George Chertanov

I started my art education in the department of architecture in the Russian Academy of Arts in St.Petersburg. This is one of the oldest art educational institutions in Russia and Europe. The Russian Academy was founded in 1757 in the Russian Empire. The government of the Russian Empire wanted to saturate the people's life with European art. The main task of the educational institution was to relay Western European practices and traditions to the Russian space. In the ХХ century Russia has faced with a series of shocks and transformations. Political and social transformations, tragedies and disappointments, successes and victories are forever reflected in the culture of Russia. The beginning of the ХХ century is the birth of the legendary era of the Russian avant-garde, a complete rejection of the past and an absolute immersion in the ideas of modernism. In 1917 Russia had already become part of the USSR and located in the head of the world's advanced ideas of architecture and fine art. When Stalin came to power in 1929, the USSR began to search for identity in classical images. Architecture and painting turn around in the opposite direction. Social realism becomes the only direction of artistic activity. The death of Stalin and the...

I entered the department of Architecture in 2008. Computer technologies and the Internet were already the rightful masters in the world space. Russia hasn’t remained aloof from this global trend. However, the Russian Academy of Arts in St.Petersburg, in which use of computer technologies was literally prohibited. For entering the Faculty of Architecture, students have to pass 4 exams in academic drawing. Next 5 years of education, students of all faculties have been practicing academic drawing and painting from nature for many hours every day. Antique sculptures and interiors of palaces, exteriors of old administrative buildings and landscapes of imperial parks-drawing from nature is an integral part of training in St. Petersburg. At the Faculty of Architecture, during the year, students are taught the old technology of drawing facades, plans and sections using ink and watercolor. Strict requirements in visual culture were compensated for in architectural design. Students created projects of residential and public buildings, we could try out all the most advanced ideas and try on all the most modern achievements of architecture and design. These conditions form a student's two views on art and I wasn't an exception. By that time I ...