Early years
Sandor Robert Zicherman was born in 1935 in the city of Uzhgorod, situated in Transcarpathia or Subcarpathia (at that time in was part of Czechoslovakia, later it became the Soviet Union, now it’s part of Ukraine). He spent his early years in Beregszasz (now Bereghovo), where beside school he spent most of his free time doing all kinds of sports, especially focusing on greco-roman wrestling and becoming one of the best wrestler in the region. From the age of 15 he started working as a professional trainer. Sandor turned to fine art only after coming back from the compulsory army service. In 1957 he took part in my fist art exhibition at the Gallery of Fine Arts in Uzhgorod.
In 1958 Sandor was accepted to the Collage of Arts and Crafts in Lvov to the faculty of monumental painting. After a year he transferred to Leningrad where he continued his studies at the Vera Mukhina Higher School of Art and Design (now The Saint Petersburg State Art and Industry Academy) monumental painting faculty. During these years he already started to experiment in a number of techniques – sculptures, graphics, ceramics.
PROFESSIONAL CAREER
After graduating in 1964 Sandor moved to the Ural region, to the city of Perm, where as a monumental artist he did commissions for the Fine Art Foundation, including a number of frescos, mosaics, sgrafittos and ceramic high reliefs, and gobelens. Beside these commissions he worked closely with the Permian Television and Theatre.
In 1967, after his first Russian Republican Fine Art exhibition, Sandor was accepted to the Association of Soviet Creative Artists as a pledge member, later in 1975 as a full member. From 1969 to 1972 he worked in various cities and regions of USSR, including Lvov, Jurmala, Riga, Elista and Moscow.
In 1972 the city board of Togliatti (the automotive industry city of Lada) invited Sandor to help organize the fine-art life of the rapidly growing city. During his stay in Togliatti, he organized the Fine Art Foundation, later Togliatti’s own Association of Creative Artists (the only example of two associations in one region). On his initiation the city built a number of art studios to lure new artists, a fine art gallery, and with my help and contribution a unique art school was opened where pupils studied drawing, painting, sculpting, ceramics, gobelin tapestry, wood carving, photo art, acting, music and dancing.
In 1987 he organized (and participated in) the First Russian Stone-carving Sculpture Symposium in Togliatti. The 10 big granite sculptures created during the symposium were presented to the city.
SUMMARY OF HIS TIME IN THE USSR
By 1986 Sandor participated in 29 All-Soviet and All-Russian exhibitions, including exhibitions representing Soviet fine art abroad (in Hungary, Czechoslovakia, NDK and Poland) with exhibits ranging from paintings to graphics, medals, ceramics, sculptures, tapestries.
Beside group exhibitions, by 1989 Sandor had more than 30 personal exhibitions in various cities of the Soviet Union, as well as, participated in 13 different soviet or international art symposiums, including graphic, medal-art , statuette, and painting symposiums.
His monumental art works (mosaics, sgrafittos and memorials) are still on display in many Russian cities including Togliatti, Moscow, Izhevsk, Perm, Krasnokamsk.
MOVING TO HUNGARY
In 1989 with his family Sandor moved to Hungary to the city of Budapest. After moving to Hungary he participated in more than 60 group and personal exhibitions in Budapest and in other Hungarian cities, as well as, in Germany, France, Denmark, Belgium, Russia, Ukraine, England, Austria, Portugal, and Romania.
Beside private collection all over the world, his works can also be found in public collections in museums like: Hermitage (St. Petersburg), State Fine Arts Museum (Samara), Theatre Museum (Samara), Memorial Museum of Lenin (Samara), Togliatti Art Museum, Museum of Regional Ethnography (Perm), Museum of Fine Arts of Udmurt Republic, Technical Museum of Autovaz (Togliatti), Museum of Fine Arts of Mari El Republic (Joskar-Ola), Joseph Boksay Fine Art Museum of Transcarpathia (Uzhgorod), Kalmyk Fine Art Museum (Elista), Museum of Medal Art (Wroclaw), Petofi Museum of Literature (Budapest), War History Museum (Budapest).
He was a member of the Association of Hungarian Creators (MAOE), Association of Hungarian Fine and Applied Artists, Association of Russian Fine and Applied Artists, AIAP (Association International des Arts Plastiques) and the International Art Medal Federation (FIDEM).
Sandor Zicherman passed away in Budapest in 2021 at the age of 86.
