01.10.2022 Maria Bregman is a journalist, writer and contemporary art researcher.

Evgeny Grouzdev

As through millions of light years, we can see the glow of stars that have long been extinguished, so from the depths of the Renaissance, we can feel the sights and emotions of people who lived once, thanks to portrait painting. The paintings of Anthony van Dyck, Diego Velázquez, Rembrandt Van Rijn amaze us with their great works and fix our eyes on the personalities of that time.

Artistic portraiture has always been in demand among the English aristocracy. Joshua Reynolds, who was the President of the Royal Academy of Arts and though he always considered himself a landscape painter, he is remembered in history and found fame as a portrait painter who showed us the faces and inner worlds of his heroes.

As an art researcher, I am always on the lookout for new and interesting artists who push the boundaries of creative expression. When I was introduced to Evgeny Grouzdev’s work, I was immediately struck by his unique approach to portraiture. His use of light and shadow to create a sense of drama is unlike anything I had seen before.

Grouzdev’s work reflects a deep understanding of human nature, and his ability to capture the inner world of his subjects is truly remarkable. His portraits are more than just a resemblance to the portrayed, they are an insight into their characters and souls.

One of the greatest contemporary portrait artists, Evgeny Grouzdev opens a new era in portraiture for us. Evgeny has a high level of work, he understands nature, finely sculpts. models the form. He is a sculptor in painting, he is fluent in materials and at the same time he is modest and not pretentious. His work is lively, timeless, out of fashion, something you look at thoughtfully, something in which you see not only external resemblance, but also internal content.

The assertion of the dignity of the individual is the main feature of Evgeny’s portrait painting. He is rightly considered one of the best contemporary artists of ceremonial, representative portraiture. His images are monumental, concise and deeply expressive by artistic means.

Evgeny not only reveals the images of his characters on the canvases, he gives us their breath their inner world, experiences and reflections.

I’d like to acquaint the reader with one of his latest works “Still Life with a Mask”, in which Evgeny contemplates the theme of life and death, darkness and light.

“Still Life with a Mask” by Evgeny Grouzdev, 2021

The still life draws attention to the classics, it is based on the traditional Caravaggio style which shows us fascination with dead nature, all the objects are dead, old or rotten. One hope in his paintings is the lightning. We see that there is a source from somewhere, all objects may remain in this point of time which has stopped, but the lighting gives us hope that there is life somewhere and that it is real.

In this drama, which is the basis of the painting “Still Life with a Mask”, one becomes sublime, everything that seemed important and valuable goes into the background. The main thing is here and now, a lot of love for this life appears, the main thing becomes the air that you can breathe and the light from the window that you can see.

As one of Remarque’s characters from one of his greatest novels said that the most difficult thing in life is to preserve the ability to enjoy the simplest things. And that is what the artist focuses his viewer’s attention on. Live here and now, look at the portraits “Xavier and Alaia” by Evgeny Grouzdev here they are live bright inspired by the moment of life, they seem to come out of the canvas and will enjoy every minute on our beautiful planet. As we can enjoy the works of this incredibly talented artist and bravely follow him and his new images and his meanings incredibly subtly revealed in his paintings.

Evgeny accurately reveals the nature of the portrait, his portrait is deep and full of life, it inspires and causes interest to the depicted person, you immediately begin to imagine who this person is and where they from, catching the nature and the expression of their eyes, you think about this person in your imagination. Evgeny has delicate and transparent children’s portrait, incredible tonality and special freshness and transparency gives a real sense of tenderness and fragility. By these portraits one can understand the artist’s attitude to the world, how he feels about a person, with what love he treats the person he depicts.

With his works, Grouzdev invites us to slow down and appreciate life as it is. One should find an opportunity to enjoy simple moments with those we love. Let’s take his example and dare to live more fully in each moment!