Ekaterina Gracheva (1975- )

Ekaterina Gracheva was born in 1975 in Leningrad and currently living and working in St. Petersburg. Gracheva studied at the Leningrad NK Roerich Art School where she graduated in 1998. From 2006-2008 Gracheva took a course in monumental painting under the guidance of Professor Mylninov at the State Repin Academy of Fine Arts, Sculpture and Architecture in St. Petersburg. She is now a guest professor at this institution.

Gracheva married her art school classmate Konstantin Gracheva who is also a well-known artist. Husband and wife often exhibit together and also both work exclusively in the rigorous tradition of classical painting.

Within her compositions, Gracheva expresses her lyrical moods through recurring themes like family and relationships.

Gracheva is a great admirer of Renaissance art and artists. She and her husband continued the tradition of travelling to Italy to further their artistic education. On one of these trips Gracheva was inspired to use pastel colors - a technique that had always intrigued her.

Gracheva considers herself to be an academic and an artist and expresses her ambition to continue developing the old tradition of painting.

Quote from the Artist:
The canvas and the artist is one sacred entity. When an artist surrenders everything to an artwork the time must come for the work to be witnessed. If the work is not perceived or understood, the artist will mourn. This is why we need to be heard and recognized.

I try not to stray from this path.

Usually, when people tell me: "Do this or that" I usually respond by saying "I am an artist, if you accept my methods and my aesthetic judgment I will take on your challenge."

Everyone is free to do as they please and do what they find meaningful. This also goes for the world of art.

Selected solo and group exhibitions:

2009 "Only Italy" Italian hall of the Russian Academy of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg, Russia.
2008 75 year anniversary exhibition of the Union Artists of St. Petersburg at the Central Exhibition Hall Manege, St. Petersburg, Russia, Seoul, Korea.
2008 Main artist north east exhibition Seoul, Korea.
2008 St. Andrew's flag, Art Museum. Kroshitskogo, Sevastopol, Ukraine.
2007 Artists from St. Petersburg, Russian Cultural Center, Budapest, Hungary.
2007 Academic School New Manege, Moscow, Russia.
2007 National Art Exhibition: Young Artists of Russia Central building of Artists, Moscow, Russia.
2007 Russians at the Russian Art" Nizhny Novgorod State Art Museum, Nizhny Novgorod, Russia.
2006 Russian Artists (with K.Grachevym) Federal State Institution State Complex - the Palace of
Congresses, Constantine Palace, Strelna, Russia.
2006 Exhibition of diploma works, Russian Academy of Fine Arts, Research Museum St. Petersburg, Russia.
2005 Artists from St. Petersburg Hamburg School of Liberal Arts, Hamburg, Germany.
2003 Exhibition of three artists, Italian, Russian Academy of Arts Hall, St. Petersburg, Russia.
1997 My City The Political History Museum of Russia, St. Petersburg, Russia.

Museums and privat collections:

Erarta Museum und Galleriesfor contemporary art, St. Petersburg, Russia

Awards and grants:

2005 Medal of the Russian Academy of Arts "for academic success"
2006 Grant, "The Muses from St. Petersburg"
2007 Participant and certification from the Presidential Russian Academy of Art