Petre Otskheli was a Georgian modernist set and costume designer who designed in theatre in Georgia and briefly in Moscow. He was put to death during Joseph Stalin’s Great Purge at the age of 30, but his scenographic constructivism has had a lasting influence on the Georgian scenic design.
Background
Petre was born on November 25, 1907, in Kutaisi. His wealthy family has moved to Moscow in 1914. His mother used to take her children to the theatre rather often, probably this is when the artist was poisoned with this world. He used to cut our small figures and decorations from the piece of cardboard. He had succeed young, by the end of 1920s the artist born in 1907 had already designed the costumes and scenic decorations for many performances.
Education
Petre was sent to French school. He was also a student of Tbilisi Academy of Arts.
Career
Petre Otskheli was a student of Tbilisi Academy of Arts, when prepared his first work in theater and was noticed by Kote Marjanishvili – the very famous Georgian theatre director at that time and till now. They worked at Kutaisi national drama theater together, in Tbilisi and Moscow influential theaters that time.
Petre was a progressively thinking and socially active person. He was accused for forming of terroristic organization in 1937 at the age of 30 and as it had usually happen during Joseph Stalin’s Great Purge was put to death. The facts and details from the artist’s personal life after childhood are not left, though it’s not difficult to fill the carrier reach with adventures with a personal story with the help of our imagination.
No doubt, that the distinguished Georgian modernist could perceive the space of scene correctly and reach the gist of the drama. These skills together with his artistic gift gives us the genius art works as a result. In case of the scenic decoration – the organization and planning is done with the reasonableness and estimation characterized to an architect. Besides the visual effect the structure of the decoration is always though out and logically sorted.
His colors and tone gamma was preconditioned by the essence of the film or scenic play and exact mood of the scene or episode, though in his sketches it is well balanced. The lighting was always considered in each of his works. This is why the paintings were mostly done on the black or some other dark background with the exact directed light. The line was clear and concrete without fail.
As for the costumes, first of all the manner of the human body performance must be underline and only after that the closing reviewed. The plastics was always adequate to the nature of the character. The body parts were not exaggerated too much, the relevant effect is got with the help of the movement and pose. The characters drawn by Otskheli, dressed in different costumes, for instance the “Winged Painter” from film or “Othello” from the theater play, can be compared with modern Hollywood heroes with their temper and spirit, holding the similar energy in themselves. This fact demonstrates how progressive Petre’s art was for his time.
The constructivist worked in Tbilisi in the beginning of XX century, the city which was the centre of avant-garde art. This was the time when the artists became free from the formality at the moment of the invention of photography. This was also a time of Lado Gudiashvili, Kirill Zdanevich, Pirosmani, and Elene Akhvlediani. In 1936, Otskheli fled Beria’s persecution to Moscow where he was recruited by his fellow countryman Sergo Amaghlobeli, then the director of Moscow Maly Theatre.
In 1937, both Otskheli and Amaghlobeli were arrested and shot on trumped-up charges of treason. Nowadays the biggest part of works by Petre Otskheli are preserved in the Art Palace – Georgian state museum of theatre, music, cinema, and choreography.
Politics
Like many talented and progressively thinking individuals, he was considered to be a threat by the Communists.
Views
Petre Otskheli adhered to the artistic traditions of Art Deco, Avant-garde, and Constructivism.