Lazary Tazeyevich Gadayev

Lazary Tazeyevich Gadayev (Ossetian: Gadati Tazey furt Lazær; June 20, 1938, Surkh-Digora, North Ossetian ASSR – September 21, 2008, Moscow) was a Russian sculptor.

=== Biography ===
He was the son of a peasant who did not return from the war. From 1956–1960, he studied at the art and graphics department of the North Ossetian Pedagogical School, and then entered the V.I. Surikov Moscow State Art Institute, Faculty of Sculpture, where his teachers included M.G. Manizer and D.D. Zhilinsky, and graduated in 1966.

He lived and worked in Moscow. His wife Alla was a pediatrician, and his son Konstantin is a poet and TV director. Since 1967, he participated in exhibitions. He became a member of the Union of Artists of the USSR in 1969. In 1978, he became a laureate of the International Small Sculpture Exhibition in Budapest. In 2008, he was awarded the "For the Glory of Ossetia" medal, the highest state award of RSO–Alania. He died on September 21, 2008, after a severe illness, and was buried at the Troyekurovskoye Cemetery in Moscow.

He was the author of sculptural compositions installed in Yerevan, Vladikavkaz, and Seoul, as well as monuments to poet Georgy Maliev (Vladikavkaz, 1986), Tembot Kerashev (Maykop, 1990), Alexander Pushkin (Moscow, 1999), Osip Mandelstam (Voronezh, 2008), and Blashka Gurzhibekov (Digora, 2012).

Gadayev's art originated from the combination of Ossetian folk plastic traditions, a deep understanding and love of their age-old lifestyle, knowledge of the mythology of ancient Alanian culture, and comprehension of the paths of world art development. Today, it can be stated that Lazary Gadayev was a sculptor with a unique plastic vision, whose work transcended national boundaries and became part of the world artistic heritage.

L. Gadayev worked in a variety of materials: stone, wood, ceramics, bronze. His style is characterized by concise, unpretentious modeling full of inner dynamism, sharp texture, and expressive "roughness" without detailed elaboration or naturalism.

His native language was the Digor dialect of Ossetian, and he wrote prose poems and parables in Digor. Two books of his works, both titled "Iskurdiada" (1989 and 2008), were published in Ossetia. The word is difficult to translate: it contains shades of pleading, request, and talent.

Participated in numerous exhibitions, symposiums, and biennales from 1967 through the 2000s, both solo and group, including displays and installations in Moscow, Budapest, Yerevan, Delhi, Philadelphia, Berlin, Milan, Seoul, Florence, Munich, Paris, Bremen, Switzerland, and major Russian cities. Held posthumous exhibitions organized by his son and heir Konstantin Gadayev.

His sculptures are housed in major museums, including the State Tretyakov Gallery, State Russian Museum, State Museum of Oriental Art, State Museum of Arts of Uzbekistan, Altai Krai State Museum, Gamzatova Dagestan Museum of Fine Arts, Kemerovo Regional Art Museum, Aitiev Kyrgyz National Museum of Fine Arts, M.A. Vrubel Museum, Museum of Modern Art in Moscow and Ulyanovsk, Ludwig Museum, and many others, as well as private collections in Russia, France, Germany, the UK, Slovenia.