|
Russia
has a tradition of expelling its greatest artistic talents, many of them
Russian Jews. These ingenious individuals, such as
Lipshitz and Chagall, have gone on to make brilliant contributions
to world art, as well as Jewish art. |
 |
Ernst Neizvestny is another artist in this long tradition. He achieved
great success in the Soviet Union, but controversy followed his
career.
For many years, he worked on the Jewish themes of the
Holocaust and Yazkor but was unable to show or publish the work.
He came to the attention of the West after a public confrontation
with ex-Premier Krushchev at an art opening. He went on to design
Krushchev’s tomb.
|
| "The
Prophet," bronze |
"The Orpheus," bronze |
In 1971, he entered an international
competition for a statue to be
placed on the Aswon Dam. To the embarrassment of both Egypt
and the Soviet Union, Ernst, a Jewish sculptor, won.
Despite honors and privileges bestowed on him by the Soviet
government, Ernst preferred to have the freedom to work openly
on the themes of his choice. In 1976, he was finally allowed to
leave his homeland of Sverdlovsk (Ekaterinburg) in the Ural
Mountains. He now resides in the United States.
“The Twelve Tribes of Israel” is one of Ernst major works.
|
|
 |
|
"Adam Centaur,"
bronze |
The artist has chosen to work not only in monumental sculpture,
but in other media because he feels strongly that "the pulse of an
idea beats in its smallest fragment." In the art forms offered here,
more people will be able to share in the idea of Ernst's work. |
|