Boris Abramovich Zaborov ( be, Барыс Абрамавіч Забораў; 16 October 1935 – 20 January 2021Памёр мастак Барыс Забораў
/ref>) was a Belarusian and French artist. He moved to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

in 1980 to begin a career in

painting Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...

that resulted in numerous

exhibitions An exhibition, in the most general sense, is an organized presentation and display of a selection of items. In practice, exhibitions usually occur within a cultural or educational setting such as a museum, art gallery, park, library, exhibitio ...

and increasing recognition in European, American, and Russian art circles.

Early life

Zaborov was born in 1935 in

Minsk Minsk ( be, Мінск ; russian: Минск) is the capital and the largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach and the now subterranean Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the admi ...

to Abram Zaborov and Esfir Rappoport and, with his family, experienced the German invasion and occupation of Minsk in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. When his family returned to Minsk after the war, they found the city in ruins. In 1950 he enrolled in the Minsk Fine Arts School, leaving in 1953 for

Leningrad Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

and the entrance exams at the

Academy of Fine Arts The following is a list of notable art schools. Accredited non-profit art and design colleges * Adelaide Central School of Art * Alberta College of Art and Design * Art Academy of Cincinnati * Art Center College of Design * The Art Institute ...

. Although he failed the exam, he was accepted the following year as a first year student. He described his time at the Academy as a wonderfully self-contained existence, relatively isolated from the

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...

system. At the end of his second year, he participated in the obligatory painting summer in the

Crimea Crimea, crh, Къырым, Qırım, grc, Κιμμερία / Ταυρική, translit=Kimmería / Taurikḗ ( ) is a peninsula in Ukraine, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, that has been occupied by Russia since 2014. It has a pop ...

, a summer that had little effect on his painting style but was a turning point in his personal life. Zaborov met a girl from Moscow and that autumn he entered the Surikov Art Institute in Moscow. He earned its diploma in 1961. The atmosphere in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...

was radically different, much more engaged with the outside world. When he left, he moved back to Minsk and began to illustrate books to earn money. He found it increasingly difficult to paint according to a personal vision that fell outside of the Soviet government's approved style.

Paris

Zaborov resolved his dilemma by moving to

in May 1981. While free to paint what he wanted, he also found himself alone. He used this loneliness, combined with a folder of family photos brought from the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

, to create a unified artistic vision that continued to inform his work. In Paris he had his first solo art show. He participated in numerous exhibitions in galleries and museums, in Paris and around the world.

Selected works

Monument à l’Écrit
bronze four meters high sculpture, installed at the entrance of the campus of the Technion at Haïfa, Israel (Collaboration with the 2 architects : Shaul Kaner and Michael Seltser
Technion Sculpture map
* Musée des Officesbr>Boris Zaborov aux Offices de Florence
Florence, Italy

References

External links

Boris Zaborov on Artnet
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zaborov, Boris 1935 births 2021 deaths 21st-century Belarusian Jews Artists from Minsk Russian male artists Belarusian State Academy of Arts alumni Belarusian male artists

Early life

Paris

Selected works

References

Further reading

External links