Boris Abramovich Zaborov (; 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, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

in 1980 to begin a career in

painting Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...

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, exhibition ...

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

Early life

Zaborov was born in 1935 in

Minsk Minsk (, ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach (Berezina), Svislach and the now subterranean Nyamiha, Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the administra ...

Abram Zaborov Abram Zaborov (Belarusian Абрам Забораў; 18 February 1911, :en:Liozna, Liozna, Vitebsk Region — 1985, Israel) — Soviet Belarusian and Israeli painter of Jewish descent, the member of the Union of Painters of the USSR, the father of ...

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 (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. 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, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

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 Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

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

Crimea Crimea ( ) is a peninsula in Eastern Europe, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, almost entirely surrounded by the Black Sea and the smaller Sea of Azov. The Isthmus of Perekop connects the peninsula to Kherson Oblast in mainland Ukrain ...

, 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 Moscow Surikov State Academic Institute of Fine Arts () is an art institute in Moscow, Russia. History It was created on the basis of the Moscow VKHUTEIN. It is considered the successor to the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architectur ...

in Moscow. He earned its diploma in 1961. The atmosphere in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

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 Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

, 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 Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence was a centre of medieval European t ...

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