Russia is known for its magnificant, vast and wild landscapes, its tumultuous history from the reigns of the Tsars through Communism to the Russia of today. Russia is not only a country of famous writers and composers, but also artists who have left a rich legacy and inspired others across Europe and internationally. Spanning the Iconic Masters, Itinerants, Art Nouveau, Ballet Russe and famous Russian Avant-Garde : How are contemporary Russian artists inspired by such a rich cultural history?
Singulart is proud to highlight five contemporary artists whose works express the enigmatic Russian soul in their original creations.
Vasiliy Kuraksa
Vasiliy Kuraksa 
Domes, 2019 
Russian Tea Tradition 
Horses in Suzdal, Golden Ring of Russia, 2018
Vasiliy Kuraksa was born in Chernobyl in 1981, and moved to Russia with his family after the disaster. This link may also partially explain his affinity with the natural world. Kuraksa identifies with the traditional Moscow School of Art, following the path of the famous Konstantin Korovin and Isaac Levitan. Using traditional methods, Kuraksa is a master of oil painting, which brings a rich texture to his works, such as the effect of hammered copper on traditional samovar, light glinting on snow and the golden domes of Russian churches. Kuraksa encapsulates Russia’s traditions and landscapes for the viewer.
Only through the painting of real nature I found the shortest and the only right way to people’s hearts.
Vasiliy Kuraksa
Boris Indrikov
Boris Indrikov 
Angel, 2017 
Elphonium, 2017
Boris Indrikov is a Surrealist painter from Russia. Born in Saint Petersburg when the city was still called Leningrad, he now lives and works in Moscow. Surrounded by the arts from a young age, and inspired by his mother who taught drawing, Boris created his own visual language. Marked by the great Russian symbolist and leader of the Art Nouveau movement Mikhail Vrubel, Boris’s works depict poetic and mystic images. His creative process linked with meditation, were the artist is a creator of parallel universes. With his unique technique and his skilled precision, Boris offers emotive, harmonious and poetic works.
A picture is a door to a parallel world. A world were everyone is unique.
Boris Indrikov
Olga Kataeva-Rochford
Olga Kataeva is the embodiment of an expatriate painter. Born in Russia, she was always attracted to France, the country which sheltered her family and whose culture has inspired so many Russian painters for centuries. In France, Olga discovered the beauty of the mineral texture of Normandy and Brittany, though her artwork is strongly inspired by Russian artistic traditions. Olga mainly works with tempera: a technique historically utlisied by iconic painters, one finds in her paintings a composition and colours which take reference from Russian monumental art. Olga refers to the famous 20th century painters like Marc Chagall (who also emigrated to France and expressed the Russian nostalgia in his paintings) and Nikola Roerich in the richness of colors and symbolism that resonate from her work.
Russian culture is my roots it nourishes me and will always stay with me.
Olga Kataeva Rochfort
Katerina Belkina
Katerina Belkina 
For Malevich 
11 millimeters per minute 
The Race
Katerina Belkinga is a Russian photograher who now lives and works in Germany. She was born in Samara and brought up in an creative environment by her mother, a visual artist. After studying painting at the Academy, Belkina entered the school of Photography in Samara. Her background as a painter can be identified through the strong influence of painting in her photographic work. Belkinga’s works mostly feature staged portraits, often using herself as the model in her work. Creating a female universe majestic and inspiring.
You can read more about Katerina through the Interview she had with Singulart: https://blog.singulart.com/en/2020/08/10/5-minutes-with-katerina-belkina/
Ekaterina Chigodaeva
Ekaterina Chigodaeva 
Flowers arrangement2 
Flowers arrangement3 
Flowers arrangement 4
Ekaterina Chigodaeva is a Russian painter born in Siberia and who lives and works in Moscow. The energy and vastness of the Altaï mountains of her homeland inspire much of her works. Chigodaeva’s work depicts scenes of nature and floral blooms, through her work she wants “to breathe, to smell the moment a flower blooms and withers, the flapping of a bird’s wing or the rustle of trees“. Her work combines abstraction and realism to express the sensual imagery of nature. Her canvas’ echo the fluidity and lightness found in the natural world.
Russian artists are known as the founders of the Avant-garde, yet Kazimir Malevich painted flowers on his way to the Black Square.
Olga Chigodaeva
