Ignatov Koka

Ignatov, Nikoloz (Koka) (July 29, 1937, Tbilisi – August 6, 2002, ibid.), painter, graphic artist, theater and film designer, and monumentalist-decorator. People's Artist of Georgia (1978), Laureate of the Shota Rustaveli State Prize (2001), and Laureate of the USSR (1974) and Georgian (1981) State Prizes.

He studied at the Tbilisi State Academy of Arts from 1956 to 1962, where he also engaged in pedagogical activities, becoming a professor in 1989.

Ignatov's works are exemplary of contemporary monumental-decorative painting. Notably, his frescoes in Tbilisi include: The Source of Knowledge (1968, main editorial office of the Georgian Encyclopedia), Longing for Pirosmani (1972, Mtatsminda reception hall), Berikaoba (1976, House of Cinema), My Theater (1977, Rustaveli State Theater), and The Golden Fleece (1980, Vake Hotel). Of particular interest is his fresco Song of Georgia in Bichvinta (Pitsunda) in 1967, located in the interior of the central resort building.

At the Rustaveli State Theater, he designed sets for various productions, including The Wisdom of Lies (based on Sulkhan-Saba Orbeliani, 1965) and W. Shakespeare's King Lear (1966). At the Tbilisi Opera and Ballet Theater, his designs included B. Kvernadze's ballet Choreographic Novellas (1963) and R. Leoncavallo's Pagliacci (1976). He also created decoration sketches for films such as Under One Sky (1961) and 1500 Years of Tbilisi (1963).

He is the author of portraits of Georgian literary figures and scientists (all housed in the G. Leonidze State Museum of Literature, 1968), as well as graphic works, including the Anthology of Georgian Literature (1972) and the series Old Tbilisi (1977).

He participated in exhibitions from 1962. His exhibitions were held in Tbilisi, Moscow, Budapest, New York, Paris, Berlin, Munich, and San Diego (USA). His works are preserved in the Bakhrushin Museum (Moscow), the Whitney Museum (New York), the Tretyakov Gallery (Moscow), and the Shota Amiranashvili Museum of Fine Arts (Tbilisi). He was awarded the Order of Honor in 1997.