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Ernst Neizvestny Biography
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1926 |
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Born April 9, 1926, in Sverdlovsk (Ekaterinburg) in the Urals
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1939 - 1942 |
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Wins national competition and attends special school for artistically gifted children, first in Leningrad, then in Samarkand (during the war years)
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1942 - 1945 |
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Volonteers for service in the Soviet Armed Forces. Commissioned as airborn commando officer and sees action on Second Ukrainian front. Severely wounded in Austria on April 22, 1945, declared dead, and "posthumously" awarded the Order of the Red Star for heroism
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1945 |
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Teaches drawing at Suvorov Cadet School in Sverdlovsk
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1946 |
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Academy for Fine Arts in Riga, Latvia
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1947 - 1954 |
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Art School of the Surikov Institute, Moscow. At the same time studies philosophy at Moscow University
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1955 |
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Member of Sculpture Section of the Union of Soviet Artists, Moscow
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1957 |
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Wins two medals at the Fourth International Festival of Youth and Students in Moscow
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1959 |
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Wins national competition for Victory monument commemorating Soviet victory over Nazi Germany
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| Selected Exhibitions |
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1995
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Started working on a monument for Kalmykia, Exodus and Return. Executes Orpheus statuette to be awarded to winners of TEFY TV-contest, Moscow, Bronze model of Tree of Life is presented by government of Russia to mark UNO's 50th anniversary
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1994
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Finishes The Golden Child, installed in Odessa in May, 1995. Exhibit of works at the Embassy of the Russian Federation in Washington DC. Work continues on the Triangle of Suffering. Exhibits in California and Moscow
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1993
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Russian version of Space, Time and Synthesis published, entitled Centaur. Neizvestny is appointed an Advisor on Culture for the government of Russia. Money to complete monument to the Victims of Stalinism awarded by Yeltsin during a speech in Magadan on Neizvestny's 67th birthday. Exhibit held honoring the Tree of Life Peace Monument at the Russian Federation Mission to the United Nations. New book by John Berger started; including Fate etchings and Berger's poems and writings
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1992
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Book of Man's Fate etchings, under the title Artist's Fate is published. Exhibition at. the Jewish Museum in Washington DC. Exhibition at the Le Monde Del'Art, Paris. Reception given in Neizvestny's honor by Ambassador of Russian Federation in Washington DC. Commissioned to create a four meter monument, The Golden Child for Odessa's 700th anniversary. Completes work on the Ecclesiastic Series and exhibit it for the first time
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1990
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First collection of essays in English, Space, Time, and Synthesis in Art: Essays on Art, Literature, and Philosophy published. Commisioned to design memorials to the Victims of Stalinism in Magadan and Sverdlovsk, USSR. Neizvestny Museum set up in Sverdlovsk. Starts working on the Ecclesiastic. Exhibition at the Ergane Gallery
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1989
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Completes illustrations to jubilee edition of Samuel Beckett's plays. Lectures on culture at Moscow State University. Commissioned to design Holocaust monument in Riga, Latvia, and memorial to victims of Stalinism in Vorkuta, USSR. Soviet documentary film Will the Visionary Answer for the Blind? released in the USSR. On synthesis of the arts published in Problems of Philosophy, after twenty year delay. Elected to full membership in European Academy of Arts, Sciences, and Humanities
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1988
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Designs New Statue of Liberty in honor of the Republic of China and the Third World. Holds nation-wide exhibitions at Modern Art Museum in Taiwan and presents a model of New Statue of Liberty to the Taiwan government. Meets with Pope John Paul II and presents him with model of New Statue of Liberty
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1987
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Tree of Life Museum dedicated to Neizvestny's works opens in Uttersberg, Sweden. Body: Man as Visual Sign and Art and Society published
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1984
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First collection of essays in Russian Neizvestny Speaks published. Lectures on Art and Society at Harvard University. Participates in Seven Dissident Artists at Magna Gallery, San Francisco. Work is started on the Tree of Life Museum in Uttersberg, Sweden
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1983
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Presents Heart of Christ sculpture to the Pope. Appointed Humanist-in-Residence at the University of Oregon, USA, and conducts a lecture course on Synthesis in Russian Culture. Lecture tour on Art and Freedom in twelve Oregon cities. Holds exhibition at Museum of Art, University of Oregon, and takes part in symposium on Freedom and Culture in the Soviet Union. Columbia University invites Neizvestny as honorary lecturer on art and philosophy. Starts designing a memorial to victims of South Korean airliner shot down over the Soviet territory
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1982
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On Synthesis in Art published
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1978
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Featured in film version of Alexander Solzhenitsyn's Nobel Lecture One Word of Truth. Guest speaker at the national meeting of American Association for the advancement of Slavic Studies at Asilomar, California
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1977
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Moves to New York City, but keeps studio in Zurich. Begins to lecture on art and philosophy at universities in the United States
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1976
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Emigrates to Zurich, Switzerland. Completes bronze head of Dmitri Shostakovich for Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC. Alexander Zinoviev publishes The Yawning Heights where Neizvestny is depicted as the central character
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1975
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Designs monumental architectural facade for headquarters of Central Committee of the Communist Party in Ashkhabad, Turkmenia. Exhibitions in Vienna, Berlin and at Lincoln Center, New York
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1974
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Takes part in "Progressive Currents" exhibition at Boshum Museum, West Germany. His sculpture Large Crucifix was bought by Vatican Museum
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1972
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Executes tombstone for Nikita Khrushchev at Novodevichy Cemetery in Moscow, 970-meter decorative relief for Institute of Electronics and Technology in Moscow, 15m stainless steel sculpture Prometheus for Electro-72 exhibition and sculptural monument
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1972
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Wings for Institute of Light Alloys, Moscow
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1972
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Museum of Modern Art, Tel Aviv
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1970
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Museum of Modern Art, Paris
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1970
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Museum of Fine Arts, Locarno, Italy
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1970
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Takes part in exhibition by Veterans of World War II and in Lenin's Centenary Exhibition in Moscow
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1970
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Publication of Fedor Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment with illustrations by Neizvestny
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1969
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Exhibition of illustrations to Dante's Inferno at Astley Gallery in Koping, Sweden
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1968
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Illustrates Short Works of Dante (Moscow: Nauka, 1968). His design of monument for the Aswan Dam in Egypt “Lotus Blossom” wins international contest
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1966
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Executes 150-meter decorative relief, Monument for “All the Worlds' Children for Artek Children” Summer Camp in the Crimea.
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1966
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Begins work on series of etchings and drawings illustrating Dante
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1966
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Exhibition at Museum of Contemporary Art, Vienna and at Lambert Gallery, Paris
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1965
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Exhibition at Museum of Contemporary Art, Belgrade. Takes part in symposium, "Sculpture in Free Space", and erects two sculptures — Centaur and Stone Tears — in Yugoslavia
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1965
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Joint exhibition with Marc Chagall at Grosvenor Gallery, London
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1963
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Begins to work on series of etchings and drawings on Dostoevsky's books
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1962
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Manege Exhibition, Moscow
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1958
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Begins to work on Gigantomachia series
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1956
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Begins work on Tree of Life project
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