The Valentine Ryabov Gallery

Artist Boris Smotrov was born in Shakhty in 1946. In 1958 he started to study at the Art School at the Palace of Culture in Voronezh. 1963-1968 he studies at the Suricov's Art College in Krasnoyarsk. Later in 1974 he graduated Moscow Suricov's State Art Academy. In 1980 - Boris Smotrov became a member of the USSR Artists Union.

The works by Boris Smotrov like the fugues of an organ painted on the plane. And the main sound is red. “Get away red color, change it into another color and you will not get such an energy that can be always found in my works”. Looking at the works by Smotrov you can see the skillfully made combination of the spontaneous national paganism and the orthodox ethics and god blessed beauty. You can find the roots of the artist’s creativity in the works of his favorite painters I. Argunov, A. Venetsianov, V. Surikov and in the works of Russian avant-garde school, especially in the late experiments of Kazemir Malevich. But you can hardly find a sign of any imitation even any links to the already existing images.

Boris Smotrov determines the main idea of the exhibition, its general concept says: “ The unity of the visible real word with the invisible and symbolic world which comes from the depth of centuries given to us genetically in the heart of a painter is the form of my existence in the art. The Sun, The Light, The Live, The Color are the essence of my existence and creativity.

Collections:
Zimmerli Art Мuseum - (Norton Dodge Gallery) University of New Jersey (USA).
Collection of the Museum of Contemporary Russian Art New York, USA.
Moscow Museum of Contemporary Art.
Museum of the History of Moscow.
Perm State Art Gallery.
Tula Museum of Fine Arts.
The Pereslavl-Zalessky Art Museum.
Tyumen Regional Art Gallery.
Collection of paintings of the Union of Artists of Moscow.
Collection of paintings of the Union of Artists of Russia.
Collection of paintings of the association "M'ARS".
Russian State Library.
Private museum of Mr. Jacques de Salis Switzerland.
The private museum collection of Mr. Han Jian min. Harbin. China.
Private collections in Russia and abroad.