Igor Tcholaria is a painter and sculptor born in 1959 in the Black Sea coastal town of Ochamchiri in the Caucasus. His artistic skills were first noticed at an early age which allowed him to attend the Sukhumi School of Art. It was there that he first discovered and came to love great early-20th century French art with the help of his teacher and mentor, artist Givi Ghergaya.


After graduating from the Sukhumi School, he continued his studies at St Petersburg’s Mukhin Institute, spending all of his free time at the Hermitage, studying and copying the Impressionists and European Old Masters.

When perestroika started, he became one of the first artists making street portraits and was spotted by a gallery owner from Italy who gave him his first solo shows. Since then, he has exhibited in many galleries and shows internationally, including Belgium, the Netherlands with Mark Peet Visser, and Roy Miles' London gallery for the past 25 years.


His artworks are now in collections all over the world, including those of celebrities such as Luciano Pavarotti, Jean-Pierre Richard, Gérard Depardieu, Madonna, and John Galliano. He also won an international competition and painted two vast panels for the world’s largest cruise liner, the Queen Mary 2.

He currently lives and works in Moscow, Russia.

Source:
Website of Mourlot Editions, New York, Accessed 2021

Igor Tcholaria graduated from "Stieglitz State Academy of Art and Design" in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Tcholaria actively participates in international exhibitions, successfully cooperates with the largest galleries in Europe such as Gallery ""Robinson"", Belgium; Roy Miles Gallery, London, England; Mark Peet Visser Gallery, Netherlands and others).

Among other recent successes, he won an honorable international competition and painted the decorative plates of the giant cruise ship Queen Mary Two. The artist turns his work to the outstanding heritage of the French Impressionists and Post-Impressionists, including the works of Pablo Picasso and Amedeo Modigliani.

Tcholaria created his own style - retro perspective, combining the experience of predecessors. Besides the European traditions, his style has decorative elements of the Saint Petersburg Mukhina school combined with a bright palette of Georgian painting. Color dominates in most of his work and is the main focus of his self-expression on canvas.

Igor Tcholaria's paintings are in private collections of international stars (John Galliano, Madonna, Sir Anthony Hopkins, Gerard Depardieu, Pierre Richard, Luciano Pavarotti, Mstislav Rostropovich. Etc.) and in the collections of the Dutch company "Philips" and South Korean company "Samsung".