Olga-Maria Klassen
Born into a German family in the Northern Urals (Russia).
Several years of training at a state music school for gifted children (piano class).
Several years of training at a state art school for gifted children. Graduated under the direction of
Georgy Lochkin
with distinction.
Studied at the Pedagogical Academy, Graphic Faculty in Nizhny Tagil, diploma thesis under the supervision of
Evgeny Bortnikov*
(Linocut series "Deep Russian Province" with top marks).
Art teacher at a lyceum.
Further training at the Academy of Arts in Saint Petersburg, supported by a scholarship from the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation, Moscow.
She received a DAAD scholarship and completed further training in the printmaking workshop at the Münster Art Academy. At the same time, she studied music education.
Olga-Maria was awarded a scholarship by the Ministry of Culture of the city of Yekaterinburg.
Received several awards for young artists.
Regular participation in city, regional, federal and international exhibitions, organized several solo exhibitions in Russia and Germany.
Awarded as a member of the Union of Artists in Russia (Moscow) and the Association Internationale des Arts Plastigues - IAA AIAP Unesco.
Solo exhibition "Journey from Münster to Tagil"
in the Museum of Fine Arts in Nizhny Tagil
The art historian Elena Ilyina said:
"TheThe presentation has become very intelligent and masterful. Honestly, I truly believe that Olga-Maria Klassen has achieved very good results with her prints in the areas of etching, monotype, and the finest sensations. The construction is flawless. The artist understands exactly how she plans and how the lines blend into one another. Today, only a few artists are still working with classical prints. As a result, this genre has not survived, not even in Nizhny Tagil, a place that has always been famous for its prints. Most artists have reoriented themselves, but only Olga-Maria has found her own language. Her works contribute to preserving this culture. I believe they are among the best examples of graphic art, at least here in the Urals.
Evgeny Bortnikov
Born in Sverdlovsk (Ekaterinburg) in 1952, he moved
Bortnikov*
He has been interested in art since childhood and entered the Faculty of Graphic Arts in Nizhny Tagil in 1969, graduating in 1974.
From the mid-1970s onward, he spent a period of searching, trying to define his preferred subject areas. He also studied various techniques. He made numerous drawings and experimented with linocuts, soft-ground etchings on iron, and colored zinc etchings. In addition to freelance graphic design, he worked on book illustrations and worked for the Central Ural Publishing House in Sverdlovsk and for the publishing houses of "Soviet Russia" and "Pravda" in Moscow. As an illustrator of Russian literary works, Bortnikov was particularly successful with dynamic and expressive black-and-white images.
After illustrating Jerome-K. Jerome's Three Men in a Boat in 1991, he turned away from illustration and the disciplines he had previously worked in, such as thematic compositions, still lifes, and portraits. He resumed teaching at the Faculty of Graphic Arts, where he had taught from 1975 to 1982. From then on, he found his main inspiration in nudes. This subject, for him, is timeless and of endless appeal.
Drawing, engraving, and photography are his preferred media, and in 2002 he began using digital photography and computer technology in parallel. He had already carved sporadically in the 1980s, using a burin on Plexiglas (Perspex), a hard plastic that allows for the finest engraving. The results were promising, but in 1992, Evgeny Bortnikov discovered boxwood, the excellent material that British wood engravers had used since the time of Bewick.
It was precisely at this time that Bortnikov discovered bookplates and began making bookplates, sending his works to international exhibitions abroad. He has created well over 100 bookplates and is recognized as one of the outstanding artists in this field. His works have been exhibited at more than 250 major Russian and international exhibitions. He has received prizes in Russia, Poland, the Czech Republic, Ukraine, France, Belgium, Italy, Korea, Sweden, Lithuania, Romania, Turkey, Austria, and Greece.
The artist's works are kept in museum collections in Russia (including the Hermitage in St. Petersburg) and abroad (in Belarus, Belgium, Egypt, Italy, China, Lithuania, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Turkey, Finland, the Czech Republic, Sweden), as well as in private collections around the world.
Woodcuts by Evgeny Bortnikov. From the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts in Nizhny Tagil.