Pigeons and pools - 55x110 sm, oil on canvas

Biography

 Ivan was born in 1960 in Ukraine. The eldest son of a Soviet high-ranking military officer and a prominent cardiologist Ivan followed his own path from an early age. A gifted child with a passion for drawing and painting he excelled at the St Petersburg Secondary Art School (part of the St Petersburg Academy of Arts) where he was admitted from the age of 12. Ivan’s talent as an artist is uniquely combined with strong skills in science and maths. He finished school achieving top marks in both. His exceptional academic record and excellent recommendations from his school allowed Ivan to enter one of the top Soviet Polytechnic universities, Yerevan Polytechnic Institute (YPI). In 1982 Ivan graduated from the YPI’s Faculty of Architecture with MSc in Architecture (Distinctions).

Despite being a well-known Moscow architect and an interior-designer, Ivan is also a celebrated artist. His rare ability to combine fluid art forms with the precision of architecture is seen throughout his works. His style is distinctive, inimitable and refined. Ivan is a remarkably versatile artist. He produces some of the most unforgettable portraits stamped with an unmistakable and deeply affecting veracity of feeling while his urban landscapes address their subjects with great accuracy yet also with multi-layered techniques. His inquisitive eye captures the beauty and romance of buildings at different times of day and through the changing of seasons. His works are distinguished by thick, luscious brush strokes and gentle colours which impart to his paintings a moving quality and a feel of great naturalness. Ivan is as comfortable with paint and a brush as he is with a charcoal.

Ivan’s first personal exhibition took place in London, UK in 1997. Since then he had numerous exhibitions in Russia and abroad, including Monaco, Nice and Frankfurt.

In 2005 Ivan became a member of the Moscow Union of Artists.

Many of his works are in private collections in the UK, Israel, Russia, Monaco, France, Germany, South Africa, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Ukraine, USA and Spain.