Mikhail Nikiporenko

142. Rock 23 x 17 inches, pastel on paper

Mikhail Nikiporenko was born in St. Petersburg, Russia, in 1953. He had always loved drawing and painting, but chose to study architecture at the Repin Institute of Fine Arts (formerly the Academy of Fine Arts). After graduating from this prestigious Academy in 1976 Nikiporenko worked as an architect and interior designer for a number of years at the St. Petersburg Planning Institute, and, more recently, at the Bella-Veneet shipbuilding company in Finland.

Nikiporenko returned to painting in the difficult times of the economic transition in Russia to supplement his income, and was immediately recognized for his technical virtuosity in the pastel medium. From 1989 to 1992 he participated in exhibitions at the "Alenrus" gallery in Helsinki, Finland. His works have been eagerly purchased by private collectors in France, Finland, South African Republic, and the United States.

Nikiporenko is an admirer of the classic Russian masters. Aivazovski, Kouindzhi, and Shishkin are some of the painters whose work has influenced Nikiporenko's portrayal of nature. His realist landscapes possess almost a photographic quality. However, his departure from the classic tradition is the choice of pastel as a medium over oil. Nikiporenko's pastel paintings have the detailed and textured look of traditional oils, but the delicate quality of the medium itself lends them an unforgettable air of immediacy.