Igor Tcholaria
Igor Tcholaria was born in 1959 in a little town of Ochamchiri
on the coast ofthe Black Sea in Abkhazia, Georgia. Until the
age of fourteen he studied in anordinary state school. During
his school days, the attentive teachers noticedhis exceptional
artistic talent and suggested he enter the Art College ofSukhumi,
a very prestigious establishment where competition for places
wasalways fierce.
Although Sukhumi was the capital of Abkhazia, it was nonetheless
situated on the periphery of a huge territory of the USSR. Overthere,
the ideological pressure of social realism was not felt as acutely
as, say,in Moscow and especially in Leningrad. Igor successfully
passed the required entrance exams and spent the next three
years in the College, under theguidance of the artist Givi Guergaya.
Guergaya introduced Tcholaria to the artof the French Impressionists
and artists such as Modigliani and Picasso. Backin the Soviet
days, these masters were viewed with great suspicion. Afterfinishing
his education at the College, Igor moved to Leningrad, entering
theUniversity of Arts named after Vera Mukhina. Although the
education in the Soviet Union was completely free, Igor had
to wash the floors in public toiletsto make a living. He spent
long periods of time at the Hermitage Museum copying the works
of the distinguished old masters. He found it more enlightening
to studying the manner of painting of Leonardo da Vinci, andthe
technique of Raphael, than attending lectures. Eventually Tcholaria
andhis professors came to uncompromising disagreements, and
he was forced toleave the University after studying there for
three years.
IgorTcholaria became a free artist, one of the first ones in
the Soviet Union,who earned their living by painting portraits
in the street. Then cameGorbachev’s Perestroika during
which Igor was noticed by the owner ofCenacolo gallery in Piacenza,
Italy. Intrigued by Tcholaria’s talent, the Italianart
dealer offered to collaborate with him. This was the start of
Tcholaria’sventure abroad. It was in Italy, where he had
his first solo exhibition. Thenfollowed Greece, Belgium and
Netherlands, solo exhibitions, auctions, artfairs.
He was commissioned to paint two four-meter long murals for
thebiggest cruise liner in the world, Queen Mary II. This year
he won a goldmedal for his aerographics on the latest Volvo
C70, which was sold at theMillionaire’s Fair in Moscow
by Philips de Pury.Igor Tcholaria’s paintings form many
famous collections around the world,including such distinguished
personas as John Galliano, Luciano Pavarotti,Claudia Schiffer
and many more international art collectors.
