Famous Russian artists of the 21st century. Oil painting: interesting artists of the 21st century

Art is constantly evolving, like the whole world around us. Modern artists of the 21st century and their paintings are not at all similar to those that existed in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. New names, materials, genres, and ways of expressing talents appear. In this rating we will meet ten innovative artists of our time.

10. Pedro Campos. In tenth place is a Spaniard, whose brush can easily compete with a camera, he paints such realistic canvases. For the most part, he creates still lifes, but it is not so much the themes of his paintings that inspire amazing admiration, but the masterful execution. Textures, highlights, depth, perspective, volume - Pedro Campos subordinated all this to his brush, so that reality, and not fiction, looked at the viewer from the canvas. Without embellishment, without romanticism, only reality, this is precisely the meaning of the photorealism genre. By the way, the artist acquired his attention to detail and scrupulousness while working as a restorer.

9. Richard Estes. Another fan of the photorealism genre, Richard Estes, started with ordinary painting, but later went into painting city landscapes. Today's artists and their creations do not need to adapt to anyone, and this is wonderful, everyone can express themselves the way they want in what they want. As in the case of Pedro Campos, the work of this master can easily be confused with photographs, the city from them is so similar to the real one. You rarely see people in Estes’s paintings, but there are almost always reflections, highlights, parallel lines and perfect, ideal composition. Thus, he does not just sketch the city landscape, but finds perfection in it and tries to show it.

8. Kevin Sloan. There are an incredible number of contemporary artists of the 21st century and their paintings, but not every one of them is worth attention. American Kevin Sloan stands, because his works seem to transport the viewer to another dimension, a world full of allegories, hidden meanings, and metaphorical riddles. The artist likes to paint animals, because, in his opinion, this way he gets more freedom than with people to convey the story. Sloan has been creating her “reality with a catch” in oils for almost 40 years. Very often a clock appears on canvases: either an elephant or an octopus is looking at it; this image can be interpreted as time passing or as the limitations of life. Each of Sloan’s paintings amazes the imagination; you want to figure out what the author wanted to convey to her.

7. Laurent Parselier. This painter is one of those contemporary artists of the 21st century whose paintings received recognition early, even during their studies. Laurent's talent manifested itself in published albums under the general title “Strange World”. He paints in oils, his style is light and tends towards realism. A characteristic feature of the artist’s works is the abundance of light, which seems to be pouring from the canvases. As a rule, he depicts landscapes and some recognizable places. All works are unusually light and airy, filled with sun, freshness, and breath.

6. Jeremy Mann. The San Francisco native loved his city and most often depicted it in his paintings. Modern artists of the 21st century can find inspiration for their paintings anywhere: in the rain, wet sidewalks, neon signs, city lamps. Jeremy Mann imbues simple landscapes with mood, history, and experiments with techniques and color choices. The main material of Manna is oil.

5. Hans Rudolf Giger. In fifth place is the inimitable, unique Hans Giger, the creator of Alien from the film of the same name. Today's artists and their works are diverse, but each is brilliant in its own way. This gloomy Swiss does not paint nature and animals; he prefers “biomechanical” painting, in which he excels. Some compare the artist to Bosch in the gloom and fantasy of his paintings. Although Giger’s paintings emanate something otherworldly and dangerous, you can’t deny his technique and skill: he is attentive to details, competently selects shades, thinks through everything to the smallest detail.

4. Will Barnett. This artist has his own unique author’s style, which is why his works are readily accepted by the great museums of the world: the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the National Gallery of Art, the British Museum, the Ashmolean Museum, and the Vatican Museum. Contemporary artists of the 21st century and their works, in order to be recognized, must somehow stand out from the rest of the masses. And Will Barnett can do it. His works are graphic and contrasting; he often depicts cats, birds, and women. At first glance, Barnett's paintings are simple, but upon further examination you realize that their genius lies in this simplicity.

3. Neil Simon. This is one of the contemporary artists of the 21st century, whose works are not as simple as they seem at first glance. It’s as if the boundaries between Neil Simon’s subjects and works are blurred; they flow from one to another, dragging the viewer along with them, drawing them into the illusory world of the artist. Simon's creations are characterized by bright, saturated colors, which gives them energy and strength and evokes an emotional response. The master loves to play with perspective, the size of objects, with unusual combinations and unexpected shapes. There is a lot of geometry in the artist’s works, which is combined with natural landscapes, as if bursting inside, but not destroying, but harmoniously complementing.

2. Igor Morski. Today's 21st century artist and his paintings are often compared to the great genius Salvador Dali. The works of the Polish master are unpredictable, mysterious, exciting, evoke a strong emotional response, and are sometimes crazy. Like any other surrealist, he does not strive to show reality as it is, but shows facets that we will never see in life. Most often, the main character of Morski's works is a person with all his fears, passions, and shortcomings. Also, metaphors in the works of this surrealist often concern power. Of course, this is not an artist whose work you would hang above your bed, but one whose exhibition is definitely worth going to.

1. Yayoi Kusama. So, in first place in our ranking is a Japanese artist who has achieved incredible success all over the world, despite the fact that she has some mental illnesses. The artist’s main feature is polka dots. She covers everything she sees with circles of various shapes and sizes, calling it all infinity networks. Kusama’s interactive exhibitions and installations are a success, because everyone sometimes wants (even if he doesn’t admit it) to be inside the psychedelic world of hallucinations, childish spontaneity, fantasies and colorful circles. Among contemporary artists of the 21st century and their paintings, Yayoi Kusama is the best-selling.

Many people believe that there are no artists left in the 21st century. However, in reality this is not the case. And nowadays there are many talented and famous artists whose works are shown at exhibitions that earn a lot of money. Below is a list of the 20 most famous and well-earning artists who are active in creative work not only in Russia.


Russian artist Alexander Ivanov, born in 1962, is best known for his work entitled “Love,” which was painted back in 1996 and sold for almost 100,000 rubles. His style is abstractionism. He is also a businessman, engaged in collecting activities, and opened the Faberge Museum in Germany, in Baden-Baden.


Olga Bulgakova is one of the few talented and famous artists in Russia, born in 1951, and is a member of the Russian Academy of Arts as a corresponding member. A representative of the painting movement of the Brezhnev era, which is called “carnival”. Her most famous work is “The Dream of the Red Bird,” written in 1988.


Russian artist Mikhail Brusilovsky, working under the pseudonym Misha Shaevich, is included in this rating and takes 18th place. This world famous artist


The talented Russian artist Lev Tabenkin was born in 1952 in the Russian capital, Moscow. This painter sees the picture like a sculptor. It feels like his written characters are sculpted from clay. One of Lev’s most famous paintings is “Jazz Orchestra,” painted in 2004. It was sold for 117,650 rubles.


The AES+F project consists of four people; in fact, the name consists of the initial letters of the participants’ surnames: Tatyana Arzamasova, Lev Evzovich, Evgeniy Svyatsky, Vladimir Fridnes. The creativity of this company was characterized by a very good presentation back in the nineties and was appreciated only in the two thousandths. Nowadays, for the most part, they create large animated murals that are broadcast on dozens of screens. One of the most famous works of this company: “Warrior 4”.


Russian artist Sergei Volkov was born in Petrozavodsk in 1956. His works are characterized by the fact that he created during the period of perestroika art. The paintings are painted very expressively, where very thoughtful statements and ideology are seen. His most famous painting is Double Vision. Triptych".


Artists Alexander Vinogradov and Vladimir Dubossarsky were both born in Moscow in 1963 and 1964. They began working together in 1994, having met at a festival, creating an unusual and grandiose project. The original design has earned the respect of many collectors. Their paintings hang in such famous places as the Tretyakov Gallery, the Russian Museum and even the Pompidou Center. They themselves are the creators of the Art Strelka gallery and the organizers of the Art Klyazma festival.


Russian artist Vladimir Yankilevsky was also included in the list of the highest paid and famous artists. He was born in Moscow in 1938. Vladimir's father was also an artist, and his son inherited his profession. Vladimir works in the style of surrealism - creativity with paradoxical combinations. Back in 1970, he painted one of the most famous paintings called “Triptych 10. Anatomy of the Soul II.”


Artist Vladimir Nemukhin was born in 1925 in the small village of Priluki, located in the Moscow region. He took part in many foreign exhibitions in Europe. In the nineties he lived and was active in Germany, but in 2005 he moved to Russia. His work is characterized by a three-dimensional composition, the presence of counter-relief and various cross-cutting motifs, for example, a deck of cards.


An artist with an unusual name, the son of a Spanish political emigrant, was born in the small village of Vasilievka in the Samara region in 1943. He was the organizer of the group of artists "Argo" and is a member of the Moscow Union of Artists. Francisco was also awarded the State Prize for achievements in the field of fine arts. The artist is active in creative work both in Russia and abroad.


The artist Alexander Melamed used to be one of the members of the very famous creative duo Komarov-Melamed, but it broke up back in 2003, then they began working separately. Residence since 1978 is New York. He wrote most of his famous works together with Vitaly Komar; together they also created the Sots Art movement and were the organizers of the Bulldozer Exhibition.


This Russian artist, known as one of the founders of Moscow conceptualism, was born in Moscow in 1937, where he graduated from the Printing Institute. According to Viktor Pivovarov himself, his first work was written at the age of five. He is also a representative of “unofficial” art. His paintings are located in some of the most famous and largest exhibition centers: the Russian Museum, the Tretyakov Gallery, the Pushkin Museum. A. S. Pushkin.


This artist was born in 1934 in Tbilisi. He is one of the brightest representatives of monumental painting. Zurab is known for his work in the form of the monument to Peter I, which is located in Moscow, as well as the monument located in front of the UN building in New York. Zurab is the president of the Russian Art Academy, which operates his own museum-gallery. The creations of this artist are known not only to Russia, but throughout the world.


Russian artist Oscar Rabin is famous for being the organizer of the Bulldoor Exhibition in 1974 and four years later he was deprived of Soviet citizenship. He also became popular as one of the first artists to engage in the private sale of paintings in the Soviet Union. At the moment, his permanent place of residence and work is Paris. His paintings are in major museums and exhibition centers: the Moscow Museum of Modern Art, the Tretyakov Gallery, the Russian Museum and others.


Russian artist Oleg Tselkov is known as the artist who began the main creative movement in the sixties of the 20th century, showing very rough and sharp features in his paintings, including in the depiction of people who look like clay figures. Since 1977, Oleg has continued his creative path in Paris. His paintings are located in the following exhibition centers: Russian Museum, Tretyakov Gallery, Hermitage. One of the most famous paintings is “Boy with Balloons,” painted in 1954.


Born in Moscow in 1934, Russian artist Grigory Bruskin, or Grisha, has been one of the members of the Union of Artists since 1969. He gained the greatest fame thanks to a major auction at Sotheby's, where he sold his work entitled “Fundamental Lexicon” for the highest price, which became a record. Currently he lives and works in both New York and Moscow, which is why he is also called an American artist.


This Russian artist is distinguished by the fact that he depicts realistic things with extreme precision. His real creative activity began from the moment in 1985, when he exhibited at Malaya Gruzinskaya, he won the attention and recognition of collectors from New York. Since then, his works have been exhibited in many European countries and are located in exhibition centers in America, Germany and Poland. Now he lives and conducts creative activities in Moscow.


This duet, alas, existed until 2003, but was a huge success. Two Russian artists became famous thanks to the creation of such a movement as Sots Art, which is an offshoot of unofficial art. This was a kind of response to the creation of pop art in the West. Canvases with the works of these artists are in major museums, including the Louvre.


The Russian artist is known for being able to combine both painting and text in his work; later this began to be called social art. During the Soviet period he was popular as an illustrator in children's books. For some time he lived in New York, then in Paris. He was the first artist to have an exhibition at the Pompidou Center. His creative works are in the Tretyakov Gallery, the Russian Museum, and the Pompidou Center.


This talented Russian artist, working together with his wife Emilia, can be considered the main artist of the country, the founder of Moscow conceptualism. He was born in Dnepropetrovsk in 1933, but New York has been his place of residence since 1988. His works can be seen in the Hermitage, the Tretyakov Gallery and the Russian Museum. Ilya received the Japanese Emperor's Prize, and his two works called “Beetle” and “Luxury Room” are the most expensive paintings.

If you can't wait to fulfill your dream - to learn how to draw - then this series of video lessons is what you need for the first step.

The dominant trend of the 20th century was abstractionism - the replacement of real objects in a drawing with geometric shapes and color combinations. One of the founders of this trend was the Russian artist Wassily Kandinsky (1866-1944). His works were a reflection of the artist's thoughts and feelings - colorful and messy. Most of Kandinsky’s works – “Oscillation”, “Compositions”, “East” and “Moscow” – were included in the golden fund of world abstract art.

Modern abstract artists

Today, the American painter Christopher Wool (born 1955) is considered one of the most popular. He creates monochrome canvases from intersecting ones, as well as depicting large black letters on a white background.

The young but already quite famous Spanish artist Fernando Vicente (born 1963) imitates his great compatriot Pablo Picasso in some works. One of his sensational series of paintings is dedicated to the female body with anatomical features, the other - to geographical maps depicting continents in the form of animal figures. The artist works in Madrid and regularly publishes his illustrations in the newspaper El Pais.

Realism on canvases

Despite the rapid development of abstract genres of fine art, realism remains popular both in the 20th and 21st centuries. Among contemporary Russian artists, the most famous representative of realism is Alexander Shilov (born 1943). His main genre is portrait, a reflection of a person and his individuality. For his contribution to the development of Russian art, Shilov received many awards, including the Order of Merit for the Fatherland, the Order of Honor and the Order of Alexander Nevsky.

No less brilliant Russian realist artist is Ilya Glazunov (born 1930). The monumental works of this painter reflect historical scenes, sketches from the life of the city, and also serve as illustrations for famous works of Russian literature.

Expressionism in the art of painting

American reality is reflected in his works by artist and photographer Richard Prince (b. 1949). His unique style combines the traditions of pop art and expressionism. The themes of Prince's works are cowboys, biker gangs, celebrities - everything that is close and understandable to a typical American.

One of the most famous contemporary artists of the East is the Chinese painter Zeng Fanzhi (born 1964). His works are full of expression, grotesque and emotional expressiveness. The most famous series of paintings by the artist: Hospital Series and Mask Series. His interpretation of The Last Supper was sold at Sotheby's for $23.3 million.

Contemporary art can be admired, criticized, or simply misunderstood. Nevertheless, it is unique, original and is a “mirror” of our time.

Related article

The “Golden Age” of Russian painting is, of course, the 19th century. At that time, a whole galaxy of talented masters appeared. The “Silver Age” - the turn of the 19th - 20th centuries - gave Russia many wonderful artists. It was then that works were created that can rightfully be called the best examples of Russian painting.

Masterpieces of romantic painting

The first half of the 19th century is a period of romanticism in painting, marked by the flowering of the art of portraiture. The best examples of romantic portraiture include “The Girl in a Poppy Wreath” by Orest Kiprensky, “The Lacemaker” and “Portrait of the Son of Arseny” by Vasily Tropinin, as well as two dissimilar portraits of Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin created by Kiprensky and Tropinin. “The Horsewoman” by Karl Bryullov occupies a special place in the gallery of portraits of the romantic period. Here the characters are shown in movement rather than in traditional static poses. The first true masterpiece of Russian historical painting, the painting “The Last Day of Pompeii,” belongs to the brush of Karl Bryullov.

Famous paintings of the Wanderers

The work of the Itinerants opens a new era in the history of Russian painting. They create brilliant realistic paintings of various genres. Vasily Perov becomes one of the largest representatives of the everyday genre. His famous “Troika” leaves a sad and at the same time touching impression. The historical one is now developing on national material. Among her best examples are “The Morning of the Streltsy Execution” and “Boyaryna Morozova” by Vasily Surikov, “Ivan the Terrible and His Son Ivan” by Ilya Repin.

The landscapes of the Itinerants captivate with their beauty. Pictures of simple Russian nature acquire newness and special charm under their brush. The first truly national Russian landscape was Alexey Savrasov’s painting “The Rooks Have Arrived.” Savrasov's traditions are continued by his student Isaac Levitan. His numerous lyrical landscapes are imbued with real poetry, including “March”, “Spring. Big Water", "Golden Autumn".

Viktor Vasnetsov creates the world of Russian fairy tales and epics in his work. Perhaps there is no person in our country who is not familiar with his wonderful works “Alyonushka”, “Ivan Tsarevich on the Gray Wolf”, “Bogatyrs”.

The best works of artists of the “Silver Age”

Mikhail Aleksandrovich Vrubel is rightfully considered the largest representative of Russian symbolism. The most famous and, perhaps, of his works is the fabulously beautiful “Swan Princess”. Among the best examples of Russian painting are the wonderful, dissimilar images created by representatives of the artistic association “World of Art” - “Lady in Blue” by Konstantin Somov, “Merchant’s Wife at Tea” by Boris Kustodiev, “For” by Zinaida Serebryakova. Boris Kustodiev unfolds delightful, bright and colorful pictures of Russian holidays on his canvases “Maslenitsa” and “Trinity Day”.

Russian painting is a whole world full of vivid images, poetic beauty and constant discoveries. And, of course, the list of the best examples of Russian painting is far from exhausted by these works.

Video on the topic

The most thankless task is evaluating and forming ratings in art. It is impossible to compare Mendelssohn's waltz and the aria "Ave Maria", the paintings "Mona Lisa" and "Black Square", "The Tale of Igor's Host" and Goethe's poems. All these beautiful, ingenious creations of man just need to be looked at, listened to and treasured.

Instructions

"The Ninth Wave" The painting is in the State Russian Museum in St. Petersburg. On a canvas measuring 221x332 cm, the great Russian Ivan Aivazovsky in 1850 depicted the struggle against the elements of four sailors who suffered. Huge blue-green waves, illuminated by the setting sun, are about to overwhelm the fragment of the mast - the last support of the unfortunate people. Aivazovsky wrote more than six thousand works, and all of them were recognized during the author's lifetime. The artist created quickly. One of his famous paintings was painted during a lesson at an art school for students.

The painting “Mona Lisa” (“La Gioconda”) is located in Paris in the Louvre, painted by the great artist Leonardo da Vinci in 1505. The whole world learned about it after the painting was stolen by a museum employee in 1911. Art historians have established the name of the woman depicted in the famous painting. She turned out to be the wife of a merchant from Florence, Lisa Gherardini. Her mysterious smile became the theme of many new works, philosophical reflections and debates.

The painting “Black Square” by Kazimir Malevich, created in 1915, still causes ambiguous attitudes, disputes and various conclusions. Everyone can take a white sheet and

Painting is one of the most developing arts today. The world around us is in constant development, it is constantly changing, and, therefore, artists of different times see it differently. This contributes to the fact that new directions in painting are constantly emerging and new schools are emerging.

The main popular trends in painting of the 21st century

Perhaps the most popular areas of painting of the 21st century can be considered:

  • Street art;
  • Fantasy;
  • Photorealism.

Street art can be conditionally classified as one of the areas of graffiti. This type of modern painting allows the artist to fully realize himself. The paintings are created on various street objects and dilute the grayness of the world around us. The main task of an artist working in the street art style is to create a picture that will attract people's views and lift their spirits. Recently, the popularity of street installations has been growing, with the help of which artists create original illusions on city streets.

Fantasy is a new direction in the visual arts. It developed in parallel with the creation of literary works in the fantasy style and is based on the depiction of mythical and fairy-tale creatures. This direction was finally formed only at the beginning of the 21st century. Fantasy differs from fantastic realism in that in the paintings the fairy-tale creatures look quite real, and the imaginary world is as close as possible to the surrounding world. The most famous artists working in this direction are:

  • Boris Vallejo;
  • Frank Frazetta;
  • Julia Bell;

Photorealism is a style of painting that emerged in the second half of the last century. Today it is extremely popular and many modern masters prefer to work in this area. This artistic movement is based on photographic images of the world around us. The goal of artists working in this direction is to show reality and reflect modern realities. Very often photographs are used as a basis for creating paintings. As a rule, works are created on large canvases, so this direction of painting is also called hyperrealism or superrealism.

Today, painting amazes with the variety of subjects and ways of depicting them. Indeed, in the modern world, every artist has the opportunity not only to work in their chosen direction, but also to develop it.



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Levitan, Shishkin, Aivazovsky and many other names are familiar to every educated person in our country and abroad. This is our pride. There are many talented artists today. It’s just that their names are not yet so widely known to everyone.
Bright Side collected 10 contemporary Russian artists (we are sure there are many more) who will undoubtedly write their name in the classics of painting of the 21st century. Find out about them today.

Alexey Chernigin

Most of Alexey Chernigin's oil paintings on canvas capture beauty, romance and moments of true feelings. Alexey Chernigin inherited his talent and passion for art from his father, the famous Russian artist Alexander Chernigin. Every year they organize a joint exhibition in their native Nizhny Novgorod.

Konstantin Lupanov






A young and incredibly talented artist from Krasnodar calls his painting “fun, irresponsible daub.” Konstantin Lupanov writes what he loves. The main characters of his paintings are friends, acquaintances, relatives and his beloved cat Philip. The simpler the plot, the artist says, the more truthful the picture turns out.

Stanislav Plutenko

Stanislav Plutenko’s creative motto: “See the unusual and do the unusual.” The Moscow artist works in a unique technique of mixing tempera, acrylic, watercolor and the finest AirBrash glaze. Stanislav Plutenko is included in the catalog of 1000 surrealists of all times and peoples.

Nikolay Blokhin

Discover a modern Russian artist who, without a doubt, centuries later will stand on a par with the world classics of painting. Nikolai Blokhin is known primarily as a portrait painter, although he also paints landscapes, still lifes, and genre paintings. But it is in the portrait that one of the most important aspects of his talent is most clearly demonstrated.

Dmitry Annenkov

Looking at the hyper-realistic still lifes of this Russian artist, you just want to reach out and take from the canvas or touch what is drawn there. They are so alive and with soul. Artist Dmitry Annenkov lives in Moscow and works in different genres. And he is extremely talented in everything.

Vasily Shulzhenko

The work of artist Vasily Shulzhenko leaves no one indifferent. He is either loved or hated, praised for his understanding of the Russian soul and accused of hating it. His paintings depict harsh Russia, without cuts and grotesque comparisons, alcohol, debauchery and stagnation.

Arush Votsmush

Under the pseudonym Arush Votsmush hides the most talented artist from Sevastopol, Alexander Shumtsov. “There is a word called “conflict”: when you see something amazing that makes your inner wheels turn in the right direction. A good conflict, “with goosebumps” - it’s interesting. And goosebumps can come from anything: from cold water, from a holiday, from the fact that you suddenly felt something like in childhood - when you were surprised for the first time and began to play inside you... I’m not trying to prove anything to anyone with my works. First of all, I enjoy it. This is a pure drug of creativity. Or a clean life - without doping. Just a miracle."

Alexander Vinogradov and Vladimir Dubossarsky

Vinogradov and Dubossarsky are the main hooligans and scolders of modern Russian painting. The creative duo formed in the mid-90s of the twentieth century. And today he has already gained worldwide fame. It is no coincidence that the writer Viktor Pelevin designed one of his novels with illustrations from ready-made works by Dubossarsky and Vinogradov.

Mikhail Golubev

Young Russian artist Mikhail Golubev lives and works in St. Petersburg. His works are thought-paintings, fantasy-paintings and philosophical reflections. A very interesting artist with his own, but very familiar to many, view of this world.

Sergey Marshennikov