Final Monument of Tsereteli: Art’s Polarizing Giant Falls

A Titan’s End in Peredelkino

On April 22, 2025, at 4:16 AM PDT, the art world lost a colossus. Zurab Tsereteli, the Georgian-Russian sculptor whose towering monuments reshaped skylines and sparked fierce debates, died at 91 in his Peredelkino home, southwest of Moscow. His assistant, Sergei Shagulashvili, confirmed to RIA news agency that Tsereteli passed “surrounded by his works,” a fitting end for a man whose life was inseparable from his art. Born January 4, 1934, in Tbilisi, Georgia, Tsereteli’s death marks the close of a seven-decade career that blended Soviet grandeur with post-Cold War ambition.

Zurab Tsereteli : From Tbilisi to Moscow’s Elite

Tsereteli’s rise began in the Soviet Union’s 1960s and 1970s, where his bold, oversized sculptures caught the eye of political elites. By the 1990s, his friendship with Moscow’s then-mayor, Yury Luzhkov, secured him near-total control over the city’s public art, a dominance critics dubbed a “monopoly.” His 315-foot statue of Peter the Great, erected in 1997 on the Moscow River, became a lightning rod for controversy. Critics called it an “eyesore” irrelevant to Moscow’s history, with some Muscovites plotting to dynamite it. Yet, Tsereteli’s ties to power—culminating in a 2004 bronze study of Vladimir Putin, inspired by the president’s “healthy soul”—kept his influence intact.

Global Reach, Global Backlash

Tsereteli’s ambition stretched far beyond Russia. In 1989, his “Break the Wall of Distrust” monument rose in London, symbolizing the Cold War’s end. A year later, “Good Defeats Evil” landed in New York, crafted from Soviet and American missile remnants. But his 500-tonne Christopher Columbus statue, proposed in 1991 for the U.S., faced rejection from New York, Boston, Miami, and Columbus, Ohio. Labeled “From Russia With Ugh” by the Baltimore Sun, it finally found a home in Arecibo, Puerto Rico, in 2016, standing 350 feet tall—45 feet taller than the Statue of Liberty. Witnesses in Puerto Rico reported it as a “tourist magnet,” though locals debated its cultural fit.

The Tear of Grief: A Divisive Gift

Perhaps Tsereteli’s most poignant work was the “Tear of Grief,” a 100-foot bronze tower in Bayonne, New Jersey, gifted by Russia in 2006 to honor 9/11 victims and the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. Its jagged fissure and suspended teardrop, forged from metal at a former Dzerzhinsk military factory, aimed to symbolize shared loss. Yet, even this gesture divided critics. Some hailed it as a powerful anti-terrorism statement; others called it garish. Posts on X from verified accounts like @tassagency_en noted its emotional weight but acknowledged Tsereteli’s knack for sparking debate.

Crimea’s Lasting Echoes

Tsereteli’s work in Crimea, dating to the Soviet era, remains a cultural touchstone. His monument to the “Big Three” of the 1945 Yalta Conference—Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin—stands as a testament to his ability to capture history in bronze. Russian state media, including TASS, reported in 2025 that these works are now “cherished heritage,” though Ukrainian officials have contested their prominence since Crimea’s annexation in 2014. Tsereteli’s art, even in death, remains entangled in geopolitical fault lines.

A Life of Honors, A Legacy of Division

Since 1997, Tsereteli served as president of the Russian Academy of Arts, a role that cemented his stature. He held titles like People’s Artist of the USSR, Russia, and Georgia, and received the French Legion of Honour in 2010. His works adorn cities from Seville to Tbilisi, where a 1973 mosaic, “History of Transport,” still graces the Central bus station. But for every accolade, there was criticism. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova called him “an artist of world renown” on Telegram, yet intellectuals like Sergei Mironov labeled his death an “irreparable loss” while dodging his divisive legacy.

The Saatchi Spotlight

In 2019, Tsereteli’s first major UK retrospective at London’s Saatchi Gallery showcased his paintings, sculptures, and enamel works. Running from January 23 to February 17, the exhibit, “Larger Than Life,” drew thousands. Curators praised his “individualism,” noting his meetings with Picasso and Chagall in 1946 Paris as pivotal. Yet, even here, reviews were mixed. The London Magazine called his global monuments “omnipresent” but acknowledged their polarizing nature. For Tsereteli, art was life, and life was controversy.

Trump’s Brief Alliance

Tsereteli’s brush with U.S. politics added another layer to his saga. In 1997, Donald Trump, then a real estate mogul, backed Tsereteli’s Columbus statue for New York’s West Side Yards. “It’s got forty million dollars’ worth of bronze,” Trump told The New Yorker, calling Tsereteli “major and legit.” New York’s city authorities rejected it, as did other cities. By 2008, Trump was still praising Tsereteli in Russian media, eyeing sculptures for Moscow projects. The episode, reported by Mother Jones, underscored Tsereteli’s knack for aligning with power, even across oceans.

What It Means Now

Tsereteli’s death on April 22, 2025, reverberates across art and politics. In Moscow, his Peter the Great statue remains a flashpoint, with city officials debating its future amid calls for removal. Tbilisi’s Zurab Tsereteli Museum, housing 300 works, reported a 20% spike in visitors within hours of his passing, per Georgian state media. In Crimea, his Yalta monument fuels ongoing Russia-Ukraine tensions, with Kyiv labeling it “propaganda.” Globally, his works—like Puerto Rico’s Columbus statue—face scrutiny as cities grapple with colonial legacies. The Russian Academy of Arts, now leaderless, faces an uncertain transition, with no successor named by April 22. X posts from @JAMnewsCaucasus reflect mixed sentiment: some mourn a “post-Soviet titan,” others question his outsized influence. His death doesn’t resolve the debate—it amplifies it.

An Artist’s Enduring Enigma

Tsereteli’s life was a paradox: a Soviet-era hero who thrived in post-communist chaos, a global artist whose works were both revered and reviled. His monuments, from Moscow’s skyline to Bayonne’s waterfront, stand as testaments to his vision—and lightning rods for critique. On April 22, 2025, as news of his death broke, Russian state TV aired tributes, while X buzzed with debates over his legacy. “His art was bold, but was it good?” one verified user posted, echoing a question that may never find an answer. Tsereteli’s final monument is his life itself: colossal, controversial, and impossible to ignore.

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