Winter Light

Alexander Volkov is a Russian-American oil painter who was born in St. Petersburg in 1960 and has lived and worked in Hunterdon County for 25 years.

He started painting with oil as a high school student. From the age of 7 to 17 he attended a special English school and in 1986 graduated from the Department of Physics at Leningrad State University. Following graduation, Alexander worked as an animator at Leningrad Studio of Science Films and later as a stage artist in a small Leningrad theatre.

In 1981 he began to exhibit his paintings with a group of 200 Leningrad artists known as the "Brotherhood of Experimental Arts", a conglomeration of "underground" art groups active in Leningrad at the time. Later, he joined a splinter group called "Ostrov" or "Island" which united 30 artists who felt that, ideologically, their work was neither socialist realism nor extreme avant garde.

Reluctantly, he calls himself a "self-taught" artist. "We really teach ourselves. If you want to learn, you will always find someone to learn from, be they dead or alive, great or unknown. you will learn from everything you see and hear around you - if you are willing to pay attention. perhaps, during my forming years, I have made a lot of unnecessary mistakes, but at the same time I have had the enormous advantage of picking my own teachers." And so they were: William Turner, Vermeer, Franz Hals, Rembrandt and many others from the previous centuries as well as Edward Hopper, Maxfield Parrish and Andrew Wyeth of the 20th century. They also were Beethoven and Satie, Nabokov and Steinbeck, Einstein and Tarkovsky. They were school and university friends, physics professors and struggling artists. "They have all taught me something - how to see, how to hear, how to understand things and, most importantly, how to understand myself. I cannot separate any one of their voices from the voice which I hear inside of me and which has become my own voice." Combining a lifelong fascination with architecture, landscape and still-life subjects, Alexander brings drama and poetic expression into his work.

With his unique vision, he merges mood and atmosphere, evoking powerful emotions that create harmony. "There is no greater mystery to me than the conflict of light and dark. In the way they clash and penetrate each other, there is the source of everything. Whether I paint a landscape, a still-life or a portrait, within it there is always a story of light traveling through darkness."

Alexander paints landscapes, portraits and genre paintings and is available for commission.

He lives with his partner composer Heidi Breyer, in Frenchtown and altogether they have five children.

There is mystery and longing in the heart of Alexander Volkov’s paintings. In his depictions of a mythic and timeless rural America there is a world full of change where
the past meets the present, nature takes over from man, day turns into night and the seasons seem always to be sliding one into another. The power of these haunting
scenes is their ability to draw the viewer into an imaginary yet familiar landscape or environment, where time moves more slowly and the distractions and irritation of modern life are unknown.

Alexander says of his work: “There is no greater mystery to me than the conflict of light and darkness. In the way they clash and penetrate each other, there is the source of
everything. Whether I paint a landscape, a still-life or a portrait, within it there is always a story of light traveling through darkness.”

In the early 1970’s Alexander began painting with oils as a high school student in St. Petersburg Russia continuing throughout his study of Physics at the Department of Leningrad State University. In 1989 he immigrated to America and in stark contrast to the cityscapes and views of the rooftops of St.Petersburg, he began painting the beauty of rural America, the place he has now regarded as home for over 30 years.

He reluctantly refers to himself as a self-taught artist saying “If you want to learn, you will always find someone to learn from; Be they dead or alive, great or unknown. You will learn from everything you see and hear around you – if you are willing to pay attention. Perhaps, during my formative years, I have made a lot of unnecessary mistakes, but at the same time I have had the enormous advantage of picking my own teachers”…and they have included ; William Turner, Franz Hals, Rembrandt, Edward Hopper, Maxfield Parrish and Andrew Wyeth, Beethoven, Satie, Nabokov and Steinbeck, Einstein and Tarkovsky. They were university friends, physics professors and struggling artists.

An important facet of Alexander’s subject matter is born out of collaboration with those who commission him to paint their inspiration. These relationships are unique and
critical to Alexander’s artistic landscape and he finds great joy and depth in furnishing each collector with their very own vision.

Amid the wildness of 2020, Alexander turned 60. Those two colliding events afforded him the opportunity to dive into his long time aspiration of exploring sculpture. He had felt destined for this challenge for many years and in July 2020, at Marcus Ashley Gallery, he unveiled his first marble infused polymer clay piece; Eternal Love< Two hands capturing the essence of his evolution as a person, husband and artist.

Alexander lives in Frenchtown, NJ with his wife, business partner and composer Heidi Breyer and they have a collective brood of 5 adult children!

Note about His Work:
Alexander creates landscape oil paintings, mixed media originals, charcoal drawings and genre paintings. He is available for commissions, portraits and any other subject
matter that is inspiring to both collector and himself! Alexander is a self-published artist with his company Alexander Volkov Fine Art which offers a vast portfolio of Limited Editions and Collector’s Edition Giclees on Canvas, based on his original works. Alexander Volkov Fine Art LLC prints and varnishes all pieces, and Alexander (himself)
embellishes, signs and numbers every piece.