Toidze, Moisei Ivanovich

(Mose Toidze). Born Jan. 21 (Feb. 2), 1871, in Tbilisi; died there June 17, 1953. Soviet painter. People’s Artist of the USSR (1953), academician of the Academy of Arts of the USSR (1947), Hero of Labor (1932).

Toidze studied at the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts from 1896 to 1899. In 1899 he moved to Tbilisi, where he organized the People’s Art Studio in 1922. He was a professor at the Tbilisi Academy of Arts from 1930 to 1953. Toidze’s devotion to revolutionary and educational pursuits, including collaboration on progressive Georgian journals and newspapers in the 1880’s and 1890’s, is reflected in the democratic nature of his art.

Toidze’s paintings from the 1890’s to the second decade of the 20th century are mainly bright, distinctive scenes of everyday life, for example, Mtskhetoba (1899–1901; Museum of Arts of the Georgian SSR, Tbilisi). Other works of this period include portraits imbued with subtle sincerity, notably Portrait of an Old Jew (1902) and Portrait of a Mother (1904–05), both of which are housed in the Museum of Arts of the Georgian SSR. From the 1920’s to 1940’s, Toidze depicted the building of socialism, the new way of life of the Georgian people, and the events of the Great Patriotic War (1941–45). Typical examples include A Happy Life (1934), Letter From the Front (1942), and Song of Victory (1948), all in the Museum of Arts of the Georgian SSR.

Toidze was awarded the Order of Lenin, the Order of the Badge of Honor, and various medals.