The statue of a centaur with a flower blossoming in his chest was made by Ernst Neizvestny in 2002 under an order from Oleg Mityayev, a People’s Artist of Russia, a popular singer and composer. Mityayev founded an award, Bright Future, for South Urals people residing outside the Ural region, who have risen to fame due to their artistic and other achievements. The award is granted every January, on the Chelyabinsk Region foundation day.
To men of science, art, sport, industry, and politics, winning the award is an honour. Since it was established, the award and the centaur statuette have been given to world famous people from the Urals like Anatoly Karpov, the great chess champion, Alexander Gradsky, Russian “golden voice”, Alexander Maslyakov, the founder of the KVN TV game, Gleb Panfilov, the outstanding film director, Yury Galtsev, the comedian, Leonid Bronevoy and Alexander Porokhovshchikov, actors, Sergei Makarov, the ice hockey player.
The centaur is cast of bronze, which is patinated, that is, treated with nitrogen acid to produce an old age effect. The bright flower in the centaur’s chest is gilded.
The sculptor was more than convincing: he called the centaur a universal creature, equally acceptable as an award for a singer, actor, or engineer. And added: if a work of art leaves no room for thinking, it is not much of a work of art then. The flower in the mythical creature’s chest, the centaur’s posture and the turn of his head make the viewer think, evoke associations with various events, stir up imagination.
To men of science, art, sport, industry, and politics, winning the award is an honour. Since it was established, the award and the centaur statuette have been given to world famous people from the Urals like Anatoly Karpov, the great chess champion, Alexander Gradsky, Russian “golden voice”, Alexander Maslyakov, the founder of the KVN TV game, Gleb Panfilov, the outstanding film director, Yury Galtsev, the comedian, Leonid Bronevoy and Alexander Porokhovshchikov, actors, Sergei Makarov, the ice hockey player.
The centaur is cast of bronze, which is patinated, that is, treated with nitrogen acid to produce an old age effect. The bright flower in the centaur’s chest is gilded.
Oleg Mityayev gladly recalls his meeting with Ernst Neizvestny, when he made up his mind to establish the award. At first, the singer didn’t like the centaur idea, so he tried to dissuade the sculptor, but he failed. Neizvestny managed to reason his proposal in a way that left Mityayev without the case against.
The sculptor was more than convincing: he called the centaur a universal creature, equally acceptable as an award for a singer, actor, or engineer. And added: if a work of art leaves no room for thinking, it is not much of a work of art then. The flower in the mythical creature’s chest, the centaur’s posture and the turn of his head make the viewer think, evoke associations with various events, stir up imagination.
