Ro‘zi Choriyev

Ro‘zi Choriyev (Ro‘zi Choriyevich Choriyev) was born on 28 August 1931 in the village of Poshxurd in the Sherobod district of Surxondaryo region and died in Tashkent on 18 February 2004. He was a master of painting, People’s Painter of Uzbekistan (1987) and honorary academician of the Academy of Arts of Uzbekistan (1997).

He graduated from the P. Benkov Republican Art College (1959) and the Repin Leningrad Institute of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture (1965). In 1966–1973 he taught at the Tashkent pedagogical institute, and from 1990 he was artistic director of the Republican Children’s Creativity Centre. He took part in international exhibitions from 1969 and made creative trips to Europe (Italy, Sweden, Greece and others), Asia and Africa, creating a number of works from his impressions.

His paintings show in bright colours the landscapes of his region, its past and present, and his contemporaries. His work is notable for bringing a national spirit, customs and a series of portraits of contemporaries and well-known figures into painting. In portraiture he created “Zamondoshim”, “Do‘stim portreti”, “Kelin. Shohi so‘zana”, “Fir‘avn. Erkak portreti”, “Boysunlik qariya”, “Poshxurdlik qiz Barno”, “Sayroblik chol” and “Qish. Avtoportret”; among genre and historical works are “Suhbat”, “Xumson oqshomi”, “Oltintopgan koni”, “Nay. Cho‘pon bola”, “Boysun”, “Bahor. Sherobod manzarasi” and “Bog‘lar”.

Choriyev worked devotedly to promote the fine arts of Uzbekistan: on his initiative and with his direct participation the Republican Children’s Creativity Centre and art museums in the regions (including Surxondaryo) were established, and he cared for young artists. His works are held in museums and private collections in Uzbekistan and abroad (Russia, India, Italy, the USA, France, Sweden and others), and his solo exhibitions were successful abroad. He is buried in the Chig‘atoy cemetery. A film about him, “Ko‘ngil kamalagi yoki Ro‘zi Choriyevni eslab…”, was made in 2004.

He was a laureate of the Hamza State Prize of Uzbekistan (1983) for the series “Chorvoq vodiysi” and “Surxondaryo odamlari”, and in 1998 was awarded the Order “El-yurt hurmati”.