This artwork titled "Acrobats" c.1990, is an original colors lithograph by renown Russian artist Mihail Chemiakin, b.1943. It is hand signed and numbered 283/300 in pencil by the artist. The artwork (image) size is 19.75 x 17.35 inches, framed size is 34.75 x 29.65 inches. Custom framed in a wooden black frame, with fabric matting and gold color bevel. It is in excellent condition.
About the artist:
Mihail Chemiakin was born in Moscow in 1943, grew up in occupied East Germany, and returned to Russia in 1957 where he was admitted to the Special High School of the Repin Academy of Art in Leningrad. He was expelled from art school for failing to conform to Socialist Realist norms, and from 1959-1971 worked as a laborer in various capacities. He was subjected to compulsory treatment at a mental institution, which was a standard way of dealing with ideological dissidents at that time.
For five years he worked on the maintenance crew of the Hermitage Museum. In 1967, the artist founded the St. Petersburg Group and developed the philosophy of Metaphysical Synthesism, dedicated to the creation of a new form of icon painting based on the study of religious art of all ages and peoples.
In 1971 Chemiakin was forced out of the USSR by the Soviet authorities. He settled first in France, then moved to New York City in 1981. In 1989, the return of Chemiakins work to post-Communist Russia began with the first exhibition of his work there since his exile. Subsequently, he continued to show his work there and has installed three monuments in St. Petersburg, to Peter the Great, to the Victims of Political Repressions, and to the Architects and Builders of St. Petersburg.
In Moscow, Chemiakin's fifteen-figure sculptural ensemble, Children - Victims of the Sins of Adults, was commissioned by Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov as a gift to the city and dedicated in 2001. In London, Chemiakin's sculpture commemorating Peter the Great's embassy to England in 1698, stands on the banks of the Thames River. In New York Chemiakins Cybele, the Goddess of Fertility, stands on Prince Street in SoHo. A sculpture from the Carnival at St. Petersburg series is on permanent display in Paris, and a version of Peter the Great is in the collection of the Chateau de Vascoueil - Muse Michelet in Normandy, France.
The research begun in the 1960s into the art of all ages and peoples has developed into a collection of millions of images organized into technical, historical and philosophical categories which has earned the artist five Honorary Doctorates and is the basis for his Institute of the Philosophy and Psychology of Art.
Chemiakin's life-long love of theatre resulted in his new staging of Tchaikovskys ballet, the Nutcracker, which premiered at St. Petersburg's Mariinsky Theater on February 12, 2001 to enthusiastic reviews by audience and critics alike.
Mihail Chemiakin works in a broad range of media and on themes ranging from the theatrical to the philosophical, creating series such as Carnival at St. Petersburg, Still Life, Metaphysical Heads, Angels of Death, and most recently, Biospheres and a 50-figure sculptural composition, The Death of Kings.
Chemiakins work is in the permanent collections of numerous museums, including the Metropolitan Museum (New York), the State Tretyakov Gallery (Moscow), the State Russian Museum (St. Petersburg), the Sao Paolo Museum of Art (Brazil), the Museum of Modern Art of the City of Paris, Yad Vashem and the Tel Aviv Museum of Modern Art, as well as smaller museums throughout Russia and the United States.
1964
Hermitage Museum, Leningrad
1969
Elaine Benson Gallery, Long Island, NY
1971
Classical Spanish Epigrams. Book Illustration, Gold Medal, Venice
St. Petersbourg '71. Galerie Dina Vierny, Paris
Exiled From USSR; Moves to Paris
1976
Russian Non-conformist Art. La Peinture Russe Contemporaine, Palais Des Congres, Paris
1977
Apollon-77. Published, Almanac of Post-Stalinist Art and Literature
Unofficial Art. Institute of Contemporary Arts, London
1978
Tokyo Museum of Contemporary Art
1979
São Paolo Museum of Art, Brazil
Bochum Museum, West Germany
1980
Museum of Modern Art, Rio de Janeiro
1981
Moves to New York
1984
Honorary Doctorate, University of San Francisco
1986
Mihail Chemiakin. Volumes 1 and 2, Mosaic Press, Canada
1987
Honorary Doctorate, L'Academie Des Arts Européen, France
Musée de Trianon de Bagatelle, Paris
1989
Mihail Chemiakin Presents "The Analytical Method of Pavel Filonov". Symposium, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford University, England
Art of Russia and the West: Magazine, Publisher and Editor
Mihail Chemiakin: New York-Moscow. Central House of the Artist, Moscow
1990
Mihail Chemiakin: An Artist's Testament. Documentary Film, Nationwide Russian Release
Keepers of the Flame: Unofficial Artists of Leningrad.
Fisher Gallery, University of Southern California
1991
Peter the Great. The Fortress of St. Peter and Paul, Leningrad. Sculpture installation
Travels to Afghanistan to negotiate with Mujahdeen leaders for the release of Soviet POWs
1993
Receives Government Prize of Russia by decree of President Boris Yeltsin
Cybele; Goddess of Fertility. Mimi Ferzt Gallery, New York.
Sculpture installation Barocco, Trianon Palace, Versailles
L'Ete de La Sculpture. Nancy, France
A Metamorphosis of Illusion. Mitsukoshi Museum, Tokyo
Angels of Death. Mimi Ferzt Gallery, New York
1994
Metaphysical Head-Deformation and Metamorphosis. Ferzt Books, New York
Receives Order de Chevalier des Artes et Lettres, by Minister of Culture, France
Centenaire de L'Amitie Franco-Russe Avec Mihail Chemiakin. Chanceaux-Pres-Loches, France
Metaphysical Head-Deformation and Metamorphosis. Presents Master class at University of San Francisco
Ledreborg Castle, Lejre, Denmark
1995
Metaphysical Sphinx. Sculpture installation of Memorial to the Victims of Political Repressions, St. Petersburg
Installation of Monument to the Architect-Builders of St. Petersburg, St. Petersburg
Mihail Chemiakin: Sculpture, Painting, Works of Paper, Objets d' Art.
State Hermitage Museum, Central Exhibition Hall (Manège), St. Petersburg; State Tretyakov Gallery, Bolshoi Theater, Russian State University for the Humanities, Moscow. Solo Exhibition
Bronze. Mimi Ferzt Gallery, New York
1996
Awarded Honorary Doctorate degrees from Russian State University for the Humanities, Moscow, and University of Kabardino-Balkaria, Nalchik, Russia
Museum of Western Art, Odessa, Ukraine Kiev Pechersky Monastery, Kiev Ukraine
Traveling exhibition: Museum of Art, Samara, Russia; House of Culture, Elista, Russia; Kabardino-Balkaria Museum of Fine Art, Nalchik, Russia; Krasnodar Fine Art Exhibition Hall, Krasnodar, Russia
Angels and Figures. Mimi Ferzt Gallery, New York
1997
Spheres. Release of documentary film, based on research by M. Chemiakin, directed and produced by Andrei Zagdansky
Mihail Chemiakin, St. Petersburg Period 1963-1972. Mimi Ferzt Gallery, New York
Mihail Chemiakin Retrospective. Heikhal Hatarbut, Tel Aviv, Israel
Celebrating the Still Life. Mimi Ferzt Gallery, New York
1998
Installation of Giacomo Casanova, marking the bicentenary of Casanova's death, Placed in front of the Doge's Palace, Venice
Awarded Gold Medal, To One Deserving, by the Imperial Russian Academy of Arts, Moscow
Mihail Chemiakin. Giugiaro Design Museum of the Automobile, Moncalieri (Torino), Italy. Solo Exhibition
The Theater of Mihail Chemiakin, Bronze. Mimi Ferzt Gallery, New York. Solo Exhibition
1999
Nudes. Mimi Ferzt Gallery, New York
Dialogue Between Plato and Socrates. (memorial to Harold Yuker), Installation, Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY
Illustrations to Pushkin's "Rusalka". Hoover Institute, Stanford University, CA. Solo Exhibition
Angels of Death. International Art Center, University of Arizona, Tucson. Solo Exhibition
2000
The Sphere in Art and Life. Based on Chemiakin's research on the sphere, Museum of the Imagination, Hudson NY
The Courage of Truth. An exhibition of monumental sculpture projects "Children Victims of the Sins of Adults" (for Moscow) and "The Righteous of the World", Russian Ambassador's residence, Washington, DC
2001
Premiere of new staging of Tchaikovsky's ballet "The Nutcracker", Mariinsky Theater, St. Petersburg, with choreography by Kirill Simonov
Publication of "Staging 'The Nutcracker' ", Rizzoli International Publishers, New York
Peter the Great. Installation of monument, Deptford, London
Children-Victims of the Sins of Adults. Installation of monument, Moscow
Awarded "Golden Spotlight" award for best work by an artist in the theater, St. Petersburg, Russia
Awarded "Petropol" prize for unique contribution to the culture of St. Petersburg
European Premiere of Chemiakin's "Nutcracker", Baden-Baden, Germany
2002
Awarded "Golden mask" prize for best work by an artist in the theater, for "Nutcracker", Moscow
Awarded "Baltika" special prize for best original work in the theater, St. Petersburg
Chemiakin's "Nutcracker". Museum of Private Collections, State Pushkin Museum of Art, Moscow. Solo Exhibition
Chemiakin's "Nutcracker". Theatre du Chatelet, Paris. Solo Exhibition
Rats and Cheese. Mimi Ferzt Gallery, New York. Solo Exhibition
MUSEUMS AND PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Tretyakov State Gallery, Moscow
The State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg
Museum of Art, Tel Aviv, Israel
Museum of Modern Art of the City of Paris, France
Yad Vashem Memorial, Jerusalem
Museum Bochum, Germany
Chateau de Vascoeuil, Normandy
Hudson River Museum, New York
Yokohama 21st Century Museum of Art, Japan
Museum of Art of the Lithuanian SSR, Vilnius, Lithuania
Dostoevsky Museum, St. Petersburg
City of St. Petersburg, Russia
Collection of Dr. Norton Dodge, USA
Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Museum, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ