Ucha Japaridze

Ucha Malakievich Japaridze (Georgian: უჩა ჯაფარიძე, 17 August [O.S. 4 August] 1906 – 6 July 1988) was a Soviet and Georgian painter.

He was born in Gari, a small village in the Racha region of Georgia, which was then part of the Russian Empire.

As a painter, Japaridze was one of the most important figures in the development of 20th-century Georgian visual arts. He enjoyed creating detailed portraits and is responsible for producing a series of portraits of prominent persons, such as his 1949 pencil and pastel sketch of Vano Sarajishvili, currently held at the Art Palace of Georgia - Museum of Cultural History in Tbilisi, Georgia.

Japaridze was given a number of awards during his life, including People's Illustrator of Georgian SSR (1946),[1] Honored Worker of Arts of the Georgian SSR (1943),[2] Academician of the Georgian Academy of Arts (1958), Laureate of the Shota Rustaveli Prize (1987),[3] and Honored Citizen of Tbilisi (1982).

He was a chancellor of the Tbilisi State Academy of Arts from 1942 to 1948.

He died in Tbilisi in 1988. His former home in Tbilisi was turned into a museum in the same year.

References

  1. ↑ "Указ Президиума Верховного Совета Грузинской ССР О присвоении почетного званий работникам искусств" (PDF). Zarya Vostoka. No. 50. 7 March 1946. p. 2.
  2. ↑ "Указ Президиума Верховного Совета Грузинской ССР О присвоении почетных званий работникам искусств Грузинской ССР" (PDF). Zarya Vostoka. No. 8. 10 January 1943. p. 1.
  3. ↑ "О присуждении премии им. Руставели за 1987 год" (PDF). Zarya Vostoka. No. 47. 25 February 1987. p. 1.