Valentin Vorobyov

Valentin Vorobyov was born in the family of Ilya Vorobyov in Bryansk in 1938. He attended art studios in the 1950s and studied painting under Berta Geller, a former student of Naum Gabo and Vasyl Yermylov. From 1958 to 1961, he studied stage design under Vladimir Favorsky and Yury Pimenov at the All-Russian Institute of Cinematography. In 1961, Vorobyov helped to organise an exhibition of abstract art in Tarusa. He met Eduard Steinberg, who was at that time living in the town with his family. Steinberg consequently had a great influence on the young artist. Vorobyov was one of the most consistent of the nonconformists in his development of the traditions of abstract art. As early as the early 1960s, his tranquil and balanced painterly compositions brought him to the attention of Western art critics. Vorobyov took part in many of the famous shows of nonconformist art in Moscow, including the Bulldozer and Izmailovo Park exhibitions. He emigrated to Paris in 1975, but continued to help Soviet abstract artists and held exhibitions of their work abroad. Valentin Vorobyov currently lives in Paris.