Valeriy Borissovich Gridnev (; born 1956) is a Russian painter based in

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

and London, known for portraits of aristocracy.

Biography

Gridnev was born in 1956 in the

Urals The Ural Mountains ( ),; , ; , or simply the Urals, are a mountain range in Eurasia that runs north–south mostly through Russia, from the coast of the Arctic Ocean to the river Ural (river), Ural and northwestern Kazakhstan.

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

, the son of Boris Gridnev. He was educated at Sverdlovsk and

St Petersburg Academy of Arts The Imperial Academy of Arts, informally known as the Saint Petersburg Academy of Arts, was an art academy in Saint Petersburg, founded in 1757 by Ivan Shuvalov, the founder of the Imperial Moscow University, under the name ''Academy of the ...

. Gridnev worked from 1990 until 1994 at St. Petersburg Academy of Art's postgraduate studio. Gridnev became noted after his

oil painting Oil painting is a painting method involving the procedure of painting with pigments combined with a drying oil as the Binder (material), binder. It has been the most common technique for artistic painting on canvas, wood panel, or oil on coppe ...

''The Early Years'' won the Gold Medal of the USSR Academy of Art. He was elected a member of the Russian Artist's Federation, 1991. In 1999, Gridnev and his family moved to

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

, England where he began working as a portrait artist at

Highclere Castle Highclere Castle is a Listed building#Categories of listed building, Grade I listed country house built in 1679 and largely renovated in the 1840s, with a park designed by Capability Brown in the 18th century. The estate is in Highclere in ...

. He was hosted and commissioned by

Henry Herbert, 7th Earl of Carnarvon Henry George Reginald Molyneux Herbert, 7th Earl of Carnarvon, (19 January 1924 – 11 September 2001),Peter W. Hammond, editor, The Complete Peerage or a History of the House of Lords and All its Members From the Earliest Times, Volume XIV: ...

, along with his son Lord Porchester at Highclere. His painting of a scene at Del Mar Thoroughbred Club was used as cover artwork for the 2021 Breeders Cup official program. He was initially based in and had showings in Russia, at Saint Petersburg and Moscow most notably, but Gridnev also began exhibiting abroad in America, Germany and Spain. His showings in Britain included Alberti Gallery, Mall Galleries, Cricket Fine Art, Arndean Gallery and Drake Gallery. In 2003, Gridnev became a member of the Pastel society, and in 2006, a member of the

Royal Institute of Oil Painters The Royal Institute of Oil Painters, also known as ROI, is an association of painters in London, England, and is the only major art society which features work done only in oil. It is a member society of the Federation of British Artists. Histor ...

, and finally in 2011, he became a member of

Royal Society of Portrait Painters The Royal Society of Portrait Painters is a charity based at Carlton House Terrace, SW1, London that promotes the practice and appreciation of portraiture art. Its Annual Exhibition of portraiture is held at Mall Galleries, and it runs a commi ...

. He is married to Katya Gridneva, also an artist.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gridnev, Valeriy 1956 births Living people 20th-century Russian painters 21st-century Russian painters Russian art historians Artists from Saint Petersburg Russian portrait painters