Iosif Charlemagne was Russian classical artist , painter, scenographer, Honored Artist of Georgian Art, professor. His father, Adolphe Charlemagne, was a famous artist. He studied at the St. Petersburg Art Academy with Rubo. He collaborated with magazines: “Worl of Art” , “Appolo”, “Lukomorie (Лукоморье)”, “Satiricon (Сатирикон)”. Made the illustrations for Leo Tolstoy’s “War and Peace” . He mostly worked in graphic techniques, secnography for theatre performances, and also fulfilled orders for the Imperial Porcelain Factory. From 1917 he moved to the Caucasus, from 1918 to Tbilisi. He was one of the founders of the Tbilisi Academy of Arts , where headed the Faculty of Graphics (since 1922). He has been a professor at the Academy since 1941. I. Charlemagne spent 40 years in Georgia and during this time he created many works: he made illustrations of works of Georgian writers, decorations of plays, graphic works on the themes of nature and life of Georgia. He is the author of the State Coat of Arms of the Democratic Republic of Georgia (with the advice of Ivane Javakhishvili), as well as the State Coat of Arms of the Georgian SSR, E. with the Lancers . He is buried in the Didube Pantheon of Writers and Public Figures.
