Igor Medevdev, Ukrainian (1931 – 2015)

Igor Medvedev was born in Kharkov in Eastern Ukraine, the Former USSR. He was raised in a family distinguished in both the civil service and in the arts and he spent his life driven and inspired by both. His interest in art began early with befriending artist Anatoly Martinov.

His family survived Nazi occupation and a German labor camp and after the liberation, Medvedev attended the Academie Der Kunst in Munich. It was while he was there that he earned the prize that changed his life, a scholarship to Dartmouth College given by the United Nations Relief Agency. It was at Dartmouth that Medvedev says he was influence by Paul Semple, an American Regionalist, and during his further education at Berkeley he was exposed to Abstract Expressionism while earning his MA in Painting and Sculpture.

Medvedev’s art is characterized by a perfect sense of composition, deep colors, use of light and shadow and a tranquil, peaceful mood. He didn’t attempt to copy what he saw, but instead create a “moment of intimation.” During his career he worked with various mediums, including painting, printmaking, watercolor and sculpture.

Medvedev’s artwork was well received, with 15 solo exhibitions in 1954 and 1955 in Germany and featuring in major shows in the U.S. from 1959 to 1963. He was co-founder of Graphics Art Center and Estamp Gallery in Palo Alto, and later owned the Mead Original Art Prints Gallery in San Francisco, but ultimately devoted his life to art.

In the 1970s Medvedev taught at the San Mateo State College and Los Altos’ Foothill College. In 1977 he married his second wife, Marina, and the couple moved to San Francisco, where she helped exhibit his artwork at galleries. They loved to travel, especially to the Greek Isles, where he was further inspired by the architecture.

Through his powerful personal experiences, the broad and deep formal education in the arts, and later travels, particularly in Spain and Greece, Igor Medvedev had developed a unique and striking style of painting. His work resonates with people from all walks of life.