Every person has their own idea of success. One is eager for high positions, the other is proud of his children. The third paints pictures and books. Yuri Cooper is an artist and writer, better known abroad than in his native land.
Starting conditions
For the most part, people living on different continents think little about the meaning of their existence. Life is arranged in such a way as to unobtrusively guide each person along his own individual path. Obstacles on the path of life are always present. And in what way they can be overcome, the traveler himself decides.
Yuri Leonidovich Cooper was born on July 5, 1940 in a family of creative intelligentsia. Parents lived in Moscow. His father, a professional musician, played the violin masterly. Mother worked in the city library.
The child was not yet a year old when the war began. My father volunteered for the front and soon died. The boy and his mother were sent to evacuation beyond the Urals, where they spent almost three years. When Yura was seven years old, he went to school. Post-war life was fun but challenging. The future artist spent most of his free time in the yard. Here he had real friends with whom he shared both troubles and joys. White-washed vest. Old, patched, patched chrome boots with accordion tops. In the mouth of a yellow metal fix. This was the uniform of the Moscow courtyards.
At school, Yuri studied well. Although I never did my homework. Good memory and endurance allowed him to move from class to class. When the conversation about choosing a profession came, he answered differently depending on the situation. At home, his mother said that he wanted to become a policeman. And in the yard, when communicating with the guys, he imagined himself either a pilot or a captain of a submarine. The fact that he dreamed of becoming an artist did not even creep into his mind. In drawing at school, Cooper had a solid C.
Yuri was lucky to some extent. By the age of seventeen, he had not ended up in jail for a fight or petty theft, as happened with some of his friends. He felt in himself a powerful potential and a readiness for creativity, but he had no idea at all in what area to realize his strength. The further fate was determined by "comrade chance". A close friend invited him to enter the Stroganov Central School of Industrial Art. The first time Cooper was not accepted. The rejection served as a kind of trigger. He thoroughly prepared himself and became a full-fledged student the next year.
Professional activity
Having received a specialized education, in 1962 Cooper began his career at the Molodaya Gvardiya publishing house. In that chronological segment, which will be called the "thaw", new, young authors came to literature. Many of them published their works on the pages of "thick" magazines. The young designer easily found a common language with writers and poets. To properly illustrate a book, it must be read, understood and loved. Yuri never changed this rule. Although he did not fall in love often.
Gradually, fame about the advanced artist spread throughout Moscow and beyond. Cooper began to be involved in the design of stage sets. Simultaneously with the fulfillment of these orders, the artist managed to paint in his workshop. Gradually, he began to stand out from the crowd of good and different painters. By all formal criteria, the career was developing successfully. At the same time, comments began to flow to the projects that he proposed to customers. Corrections and "wishes" began to descend from the higher echelons of power. In this way, censorship was carried out.
Foreign creativity
After much hesitation and doubt, the highly successful Soviet artist Yuri Cooper decided to leave his native country. In 1972 he received permission to leave and moved to Israel. Then many people tried to change their destiny in this way. But just a few months later, the artist moved to Paris. Here Cooper got into his native environment. If we speak in protocol language, then the career of a Soviet artist was developing rapidly. He carried out orders for book publishers and jewelry workshops.
Cooper bought an elegant castle in Normandy, which is often used by filmmakers for their sets. This purchase allows you to imagine what the income level of the famous artist is. Then Yuri Leonidovich decided to settle in New York. And he spent fifteen years in this city. Here he formed a kind of headquarters, where the artist accepted and executed orders from different countries and cities.
Return and personal life
In 2016, Yuri Cooper again became a citizen of Russia. As subsequent events showed, the artist was not forgotten at home. After the obligatory arrival procedures, he set up a workshop for himself and plunged into the familiar atmosphere of creativity. There was a lot of work, as always. In such an environment, it is very important not to fuss. Based on similar considerations, the artist began to share his experience with young painters.
Yuri speaks about his personal life easily, without anguish and regret. On his way, he twice entered into legal marriage. The first wife was the announcer of the central television Laura Eremina. They lived under the same roof for three years. For the second time, Cooper married a fashion model Lyudmila Romanovskaya. The husband and wife left the USSR together and went abroad. They did not have common children, and after a while the couple separated. Today, the artist whiles away his days in his studio, completely devoting himself to his beloved work.
