The Art of

YURI GORBACHEV

Yuri Gorbachev trained as a ceramics artist in Borovici, Russia and philosophy at St. Petersburg University. He then attended the Art Faculty of South Ukrainian University in Odessa, where he studied art and graphics.

At the young age of twenty seven he became a member of the prestigious Art Union of the former USSR. Gorbachev established a distinguished career as a painter in Russia and the Ukraine before moving to New York in 1991. His whimsical paintings have illustrated Absolut and Stolichnaya vodka advertisements appearing in hundreds of magazines around the world. Inspired by the brilliant jeweled colors of Byzantine art and by the works of Faberge, internationally acclaimed artist Yuri Gorbachev creates colorful, richly textured canvases in oil and gold, that are widely collected and exhibited in dozens of galleries and more than 20 museums worldwide including the United Nations and the White House. His joyful artistic world turns the memories of his boyhood in Russia and the ancient tradition of Russian Orthodox icon painting, into a radiant kaleidoscope of folk celebrations, street fairs, circuses, animals, snowy winter landscapes, and Tzars of the Romanov dynasty.

He has spent years studying the art and culture of the Indonesian Islands and has been accepted as one of their national artists. Four Indonesian museums have his paintings in their permanent collections. Gorbachev loves Bali and its people and culture and it has had a deep influence on his work. He has exhibited in Bali, Jakarta, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Taiwan, Singapore as well as in Australia, Brazil and Europe. Yuri Gorbachev combines the history, mythology and cultural heritage of his homeland with references to Russian and Balinese Folk Art, African rock drawings and masks, while precisely defining every form, every kind of object, plant or human figure arranged in series of subjects that are important to the artist.

For the past twenty years Gorbachev has traveled extensively; his artistic development moved from his naive style to his most recent intricate works. He uses a sophisticated technique with precious metals like gold and copper along with specially formulated lacquers over oil on canvas. He has developed a new technique, which highlights his paintings with enamel creating added texture and luster to his composition. The complex technique developed over two decades, using ceramic techniques on canvas is unique and inimitable.

From 1995 through the present time Yuri Gorbachev’s work has toured various museums and prominent public spaces including exhibitions at The National Fine Art Museum of the Ukraine, The United Nations, The Moscow Museum of Modern Art, The Tsarskoye Selo National Museum, The Palace of Alexander lll, and The Marble Palace of St. Petersburg, The Rudana Museum, Bali, The Museum Conjunto Cultural da Caixo of San Paulo, Brazil, The Russian Museum of Kiev, The Odessa State Literature Museum, The Odessa State Museum of Western and Oriental Art, The Fine Art Museum of Donezk, Ukraine, and the St. Petersburg State Museum of Urban Art and Sculpture.


Press Release 2012

Inspired by the brilliant jeweled colors of Byzantine art and by the works of Faberge, internationally acclaimed artist Yuri Gorbachev creates colorful, richly textured canvases in oil and gold that are widely collected and exhibited in dozens of galleries and more than 20 museums worldwide. His joyful artistic world reflects the Russian culture of his boyhood-a radiant kaleidoscope of folk celebrations, street fairs, circuses, snowy winter landscapes, czars of the Romanov dynasty, and the ancient tradition of Russian Orthodox icon painting.

Gorbachev trained as a ceramics artist and professional philosopher and established a distinguished career as a painter in the Soviet Union before moving to New York in 1991. His whimsical paintings have illustrated Absolut and Stolichnaya vodka advertisements appearing in hundreds of magazines around the world; his canvases are also in collections of the United Nations and the White House.

Michel Roux, well known art collector and formerly exclusive distributor and marketing genius behind the Absolut and Stolichnaya advertising campaigns, says:

Yuri Gorbachev is The Angel from Russia. He brings out whatever is good from there. The spirit, the subject matter and the colors of his work-profound in their simplicity-exemplify what Russia is really all about.

In October 1998, the prestigious Rizzoli International published "The Art of Yuri Gorbachev". This beautifully printed first monograph on Gorbachev presents 100 full-color plates divided into thematic sections spanning the artist's career. The book's two accompanying essays by Carey Goldberg of The New York Times and Yaroslav Mogutin, a notable young Russian writer and cultural critic of the "post-Perestroika" generation offer a lively profile of Gorbachev the man and artist, making this volume a comprehensive introduction to his work. Rizzoli has published only two other Russian artists in the past: Marc Chagall and Wassily Kandinsky.

Carey Goldberg (New York Times), talking about Yuri Gorbachev says:

There is no better interview subject than a man who just wants to make people happy. A man so brimming with energy that he repeats and rerepeats words of emphasis, a man with a mission so simple and sweet that it works for Americans and Russians and Indonesians alike. And there is no better art, to my taste, than art that radiates the same kind of joie de vivre so that it acts as a tonic on all those who see it, uplifting not only with its beauty but with an exuberance as potent as the blooming of northern plants in summer.

In September 2002, Bertelsmann's Euromedia Group published "The Art of Paradise: Yuri Gorbachev" a beautiful book of 274 pages with editions in three languages, English, Russian and Czech. This is a comprehensive book of his works from the beginning of his career to date with essays on his life and his roots and with an explanation of the symbolism in his paintings.
In addition to his success and fame in the United States, Gorbachev has achieved equal recognition in Europe and Asia. He has spent months studying the art and culture of the Indonesian Islands and has been accepted as one of their national artists. Four Indonesian museums have his paintings in their permanent collections. Gorbachev loves Bali and its people and culture and it has had a deep influence on his work. He has exhibited in Bali, Jakarta, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Taiwan, Singapore as well as in Australia. He is presently represented in galleries in Paris, London, Berlin, Prague, Slovakia, Moscow, St. Petersburg, Odessa, and Singapore as well as galleries all over the United States.

From 2000 through the present time Yuri Gorbachev’s work is touring various museums and prominent public spaces including exhibitions at The National Fine Art Museum of the Ukraine, The United Nations, The Moscow Museum of Modern Art, The Museum Conjunto Cultural da Saixo of San Paulo, Brazil, The Russian Museum of Kiev, The Odessa State Literature Museum, The Odessa State Museum of Western and Oriental Art, and The Fine Art Museum of Donezk, Ukraine..

The Caras Magazine of Brazil featured Yuri Gorbachev as the Person of The Year, 2006 during the time of his exhibition there.

2010 through 2015 Gorbachev Museum Tour
In October 2010 a major exhibition of Gorbachev’s paintings began at the St. Petersburg Museum of Urban Art & Sculpture on the famous Nevsky Prospekt in St. Petersburg, Russia. Tens of thousands of people attended the exhibit over a period of months breaking all attendance records for the museum.
In 2011, The Russian National Museum of St. Petersburg , Russia, the most important museum of Russian art worldwide, accepted Gorbachev's major oil painting Tsar Nicholas and his Family into their Permanent Collection. Gorbachev's museum tour continues through 2015, with the National Gallery of Fine Art Plovdiv, Bulgaria, opening July, 2012, the Literature Museum of Odessa, Ukraine, August, 2012, and future exhibitions in Major Museums in Kiev, Moscow, St. Petersburg and other European countries.

In 2011/12, Yuri Gorbachev had the honor of being commissioned by SPI Ltd, the owners of the Stolichnaya brand, to design a new label for Stolichnaya Red Vodka worldwide. Gorbachev designed the label which is derived from his painting “FOUR ELEMENTS”; all Stolichnaya Red bottles will have this design and his name, as artist, on them. This new design is a tremendous step for the Stolichnaya Vodka brand, and will be advertised and promoted all over the world.