Mikhail Shvartsman is the artist whose art has been formed according to his special philosophical and mystic ideas, so his resort to the art was equal to higher spiritual service: “I am Hierat, the one who pierced with Universe signs flow. My practice is ieratism (my own term). Ieratism is cosmism. Hieratism is silent name of hieratic Sign, Sacred Sign of the Spirit of God”.

Shvartsman hieratic art concept (Greek “hieratikos” - hieratic, sacred) was formed between 1950s-1960s and became underlying concept of objectless painting of artist, he held his own till the end of his days. The evidence of it is his late painting “Evening”, composition is built here with the help of multi-layered objects - signs which fell under numerous metamorphosis while creating hierature. “Sign could be chosen beforehand it is creating , it is the result of transformation (metamorphosis)” - this is how the artist explained the specific of his creative method, while working at his paintings for a rather long time. He “metamorphosed” images by applying paint layer by layer, so the surface became partly rough texture and due to this the painting itself could be literary felt physically. Shvartsman underlined that the searching of sign in hieratic was more important for him than the colouring but bright colour accords often became the part of geometry of his architectonic structures. So the title of the painting “Evening” echos at smother blue penetrated to brown colour base of the artwork. V