Toidze Irakli

Irakli Toidze (b. March 27, 1902, Tbilisi – d. April 13, 1985, Moscow, buried in Tbilisi), painter, graphic artist, People's Artist of Georgia (1980), Honored Artist of Georgia (1970) and Russia (1951), Honorary Citizen of Tbilisi (1982). He began painting at the age of 10. He was 12 when he first exhibited his paintings, and was accepted into the “Society of Georgian Artists” when he was 17. His first teacher was his father. In 1930, he graduated from the Tbilisi Academy of Arts. He taught at the art studio founded by M. Toidze and at the Tbilisi Academy of Arts. He was an active representative of the younger generation of Georgian artists. He collaborated on a series of portraits of Georgian figures. Toidze is one of the founders of the Georgian poster art. His posters are distinguished by the topicality of their themes. The poster Dedasamshoblo Gvedzakhis (The Motherland Calls) (1941) gained particular popularity. He was a four-time laureate of the Stalin Prize (1941, 1948, 1949, 1951). A large collection of Toidze's works is kept in the house-museum of his father - M. Toidze (M. Lagidze St., No. 1). He was on the editorial boards of: “Zarya Vostoka”, “Rabochaya Pravda”. He was the chairman of the Georgian branch of the Association of Artists of the Revolution (AHR). From 1931, he lived in Moscow.

Toidze made sketches from nature, created everyday pictures (Revolution, 1923, Carnival 1928; Stalin on the Rioni Hydro Power Plant, 1936). He had extensive and interesting works in the field of illustration. He illustrated The Knight in the Panther's Skin (1937), History of Georgia (1950), and created a series of portraits of Georgian cultural figures.