MIKHAIL SHWARTZMAN
Mikhail Shwartzman was a painter, monumentalist, graphic artist and designer. In 1950–1956 he studied at the Moscow Higher College of Industrial Art (formerly Stroganov College). In 1966–1985 he was in charge of a group of graphic designers at the Special Office of Art and Design of the Ministry of Light Industry.
M.M.Shwarzman was one of the most prominent Moscow Underground artists. He made a deep impact on the art of many of his fellow-artists. Shwartzman created an art system, which he called "ieratism" (from a Greek word meaning "priestly", "saintly"). He formulated the basic principles of his system as early as in the 1960s. As a proponent of non-objective art the painter used sign language in an effort to express what he saw as the world’s main driving force expressed in the metamorphoses of Nature.