Matvey Levenstein

Matvey Levenstein is a Russian-American artist born in 1960 in Moscow. He is known for his vibrant and expressive paintings, which often depict everyday scenes and people in bold, bright colors. Levenstein's work is characterized by loose brushwork and a lively energy, and he draws inspiration from the Russian folk art tradition as well as modernist movements such as Fauvism and Expressionism.

Levenstein's unique style involves using a restricted color palette on toned surfaces, where he builds up layers of paint gradually and carefully over several months. His compositions often feature the natural world in all its splendor, such as the imposing presence of a storm cloud, the intricacies of tree branches set against a winter sky, or the subtle beauty of cut flowers arranged on a glass table. His works vary in size and material, including larger pieces created with sumi ink and smaller, intricate works produced on surfaces like linen, copper, and wood.

He has exhibited his work widely throughout Russia and Europe, and his paintings are included in numerous private and public collections. In addition to his artistic practice, Levenstein has also been a professor of painting at the Surikov Institute in Moscow, where he taught for over thirty years.