Picture of the week
R. Tsechoev. I have bad time! / I have bad time! Digital image. 2000s.
I HAVE BAD TIME! / I HAVE BAD TIME!
A drawing that is an antithesis of the painting " All to best!" (see below).
This is a digital image. Tsechoev began "dabbling" in computer graphics first out of interest, then to save paper for sketches, and soon came to a separate genre of digital drawings. Often they were humorous, caricatures and had no prospect of being painted in oil on canvas. Sometimes he used them to work out the palette of future paintings.
Tsechoev created "I'm Having a Bad Time!" at a time when he was ironically reflecting on his latest depression.
We found this work when we were preparing to print the limited edition of the album "Knight of Color". It is placed on the same spread with the painting "All to best ! "
Read about the album in the relevant section.
R. Tsechoev. Cat and kitten. Canvas, oil. 100x150. 1999.
CAT and CAT TEN
This painting returned to its homeland in the summer of 2023 from Belgium just before the preparation for the release of the second limited edition of the album "Ruslan Tsechoev. Knight of Color". We managed to place its reproduction in the book, thereby giving it additional exclusivity.
"Cat and Kitten", according to our information, was exhibited as part of the exhibition once. However, this work was part of the design of the Kostanay cafe "Black Cat" for several years in the late 90s - early 2000s.
Now its previous owner, living in Europe, considered it necessary to transfer the canvas to the author’s homeland.
R. Tsechoev. All to best! Everything is for the better! Oil on canvas, enamel, gold inlay. 40x60. 2003
ALL TO BEST!/
ALL FOR THE BEST
This piece contains 9 grams of pure 585 gold. The letters, cast from the precious metal, are glued to the side of the Black Cat.
Jeweler Nikolai Goncharov made them based on Tsetshoev’s sketch.
The artist has stated more than once: “All to the best!” – this is my motto, both creative and in life in general . ”
The painting was created in anticipation of a series of personal exhibitions of Ruslan Tsetchoev in European countries.
The artist spent his last money on the gold elements of his creation. But he also valued it as much as gold.
To protect the canvas from possible looting, it was enclosed in a transparent plexiglass case.
The painting is in a private European collection. The exact location is unknown.
R. Tsechoev. Giraffe. Oil on canvas, enamel. 100x150. 2000s
GIRAFFE
This is a painting without an exhibition destiny. It is kept in a private collection, access to which is limited. The owner of the painting does not advertise his name. He does not give it to exhibitions, fearing for its safety. He said that the painting canvas was created to order: the theme of the painting was determined by its buyer, who really wanted to own an unusual work by Tsetchoev - without cats.
The exact date of the creation of "Giraffe" is unknown and is not indicated on the back of the canvas. Its owner only remembers that Tsetshoev painted the picture in the early 2000s.
R. Tsechoev. Girl with a cat. Canvas, oil. 54x35. 1992
GIRL WITH A CAT
This painting was considered lost for many years. It was found unexpectedly - during the search for material for the album "Ruslan Tsechoev. Knight of Color".
The authors of the book, recalling that Tsetschoev's paintings were used in art therapy sessions at a psychiatric hospital, turned to doctors who had previously worked at the clinic. It turned out that they remembered these experiments and their success very well.
One of our interlocutors said that when the hospital management changed, the paintings were removed and taken by their owners (the artist gave the paintings to doctors). But one, small in size, remained ownerless. The one who saved "Girl with a Cat" did not see any particular value in it ("I thought there was nothing special about it, well, some kind of daub, but it was a pity to throw it away," he says) and gave the canvas in exchange for a reproduction of a city landscape...
The image of this painting, due to its late discovery, was not included in the first edition of the album. Together with other works discovered in February-May 2023, it is included in the limited edition of the catalogue.
Read about the album "Ruslan Tsechoev. Knight of Color"
In Ruslan’s paintings, the subject and object seem to change places: it’s not so much that we look at them as they look at us, and this is another feature of Tsetshoev’s work that makes him an outstanding master.
Sergey LESHAKOV, Master of Arts