Aleksandr Finsky was born in Vesyolyj Gaj Village (Pukhovichi District and Minsk Region) on January 2, 1953. He graduated from the Republican Boarding School in Music and Fine Arts (now the Gymnasium-College of Arts named after I. O. Akhremchik) in 1971. He defended his diploma at the Belarusian State Theater and Art Institute (now the Belarusian State Academy of Arts) with a degree in ‘Sculpture’ in 1977. He studied under outstanding professors Andrey Bembel, Anatoly Anikeychik and Anatoly Artimovich. He has been a participant in exhibitions since 1975. He has been a member of the Belarusian Union of Artists since 1984.
For several decades, Aleksandr Finsky has been working successfully not only as a sculptor, but also as a teacher. He taught at the State Educational Institution ‘Gymnasium-College of Arts named after I. O. Akhremchik’ (1977–1991). He has been teaching at the Belarusian State Academy of Arts since 1991. He is currently a professor at the Department of Sculpture.
Aleksandr Finsky is awarded the first prize of the Belarusian Union of Architects in the field of monumental art (2001), a special prize of the President of the Republic of Belarus for ‘Spiritual Revival’ and contribution to the development of international cultural relations (2002), the State Prize of the Republic of Belarus (2011), and a diploma of the Republican Competition ‘Man of the Year of Culture’ (2017). He is awarded the Francysk Skaryna Medal (2014), honorary diplomas of the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Belarus (2019) and the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee (2015), a gold medal and a Vermeil ART-SCIENSE-LETTRES diploma (Paris, 2016), an honorary badge of the Belarusian Trade Union Cultural Workers (2020). Aleksandr Finsky was awarded the honorary title ‘Honored Artist of the Republic of Belarus’ in 2022.
Belarusian sculptor Aleksandr Finsky is known for his works not only in Belarus, but also abroad. The compositions created by the master cannot be attributed to any particular subject. They clearly show a connection with various types of art, historical periods and social phenomena. In his works, he depicts the spirit of a specific epoch and a specific personality in the past. At the same time, his plastic art is modern.
‘The Pit. Minsk Ghetto’ Memorial in Minsk (architect, author of the idea and project manager Leonid Levin, architects Yevgeny Dyatlov and Anatoly Kopylov, sculptors Aleksandr Finsky and Elza Polok, 2000) is one of the most striking monumental works in the history of Belarusian sculpture. Other monumental works by Aleksandr Finsky are the Kilometer Zero on October Square in Minsk (architect Armen Sardarov, 1998), the Monument to the Liberators of Rogachev (architect Georgy Fyodorov, Gomel Region, 2004), sculptural compositions for the facade of the restored State Academic Bolshoi Opera and Ballet Theatre of the Republic of Belarus (co-authored by sculptors Mikhail Shkrobot and Gennady Buralkin, 2006–2009), the sculptural composition ‘Evening Blues’ in the Olympic Park in Beijing (China, 2002), the sign ‘Symbol of the City’ in Molodechno (architect Armen Sardarov, 2011), the memorial complex (Krasny Bereg Village), dedicated to the children – victims in the Great Patriotic War (architects: Leonid Levin, Galina Levina, Anatoly Kopylov and Yevgeny Dyatlov). The memorial plaques to Vladimir Olovnikov and Svetlana Danilyuk, People’s Artists of the BSSR, to Anatoly Anikeychik, People’s Artist of the BSSR, (all in Minsk), and to Henryk Wieniawski, a musician, a composer and a teacher (in Moscow).
The easel works by Aleksandr Finsky have generalized forms and lyrical intonations. These works are special with integrity, soft plasticity of their sculptural forms, sensuality and sincerity. All works speak to the viewer in a simple, understandable language of human feelings and emotions.
The works of Aleksandr Finsky are in the National Art Museum of the Republic of Belarus, in the funds of the Belarusian Union of Artists, the Grodno State Historical and Archaeological Museum, the National Center for Contemporary Arts of the Republic of Belarus, the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow and private collections in Germany, France and Austria.
The curator of the exhibition is Gennady Lisov, a scientific employee of the Exhibition Department in the National Art Museum of the Republic of Belarus
The exhibition runs until March 5, 2023
