Timur D’Vatz, a Russian artist, fuses ancient legends and symbols with a modernist style and vibrant colours. Taking inspiration from ancient histories, early Byzantine art and medieval tapestries, D’Vatz explores core motifs and ideas that he believes have gained meaning and significance with each historical transition. Drawing on these styles and referencing literature, religion and astrology, D’Vatz’s paintings create their own modern mythology intrinsically linked with the recognisable iconic traditions of medieval painting.
"I see mythology as the starting point for an inner journey through outer experience. In order to go forwards we must go back to our roots; the journey forward is always a return. Myth is a poetic interpretation of human knowledge."
The subject of the hunt is a symbolic and dynamic motif throughout his works; the hunt can be a quest, a journey or the search for ourselves. Through the use of elongated bodies, his paintings seek to show the exhilaration of movement within a static image; a forward thrust towards an end goal.
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Bartolomeo Colleoni, 2023oil on canvas200cm x 200cm (79" x 79")
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Water lilies. Rain. Triptych, 2022oil and gold leaf on canvas213cm x 106cm (84" x 42")
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Angels, Flamingos and Blue Winged Stag, 2022oil on canvas122cm x 175cm (48" x 69")
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Dream, 2022oil on canvas47cm x 93cm (19" x 37")
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Red Leopard, 2022oil on canvas23cm x 26cm (9" x 10")
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Falconer with the Green Glove, 2022oil on canvas60cm x 60cm (24" x 24")
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Creation Myth II,oil on canvas100cm x 175cm (39" x 69")
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Hunter,oil on canvas30cm x 30cm (11.8” x 11.8”)
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The English KnightOil on canvas81cm x 81cm (32" x 32")
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Two Hunters,oil on canvas18cm x 30cm (7"x 11.8")
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Waterlilies II,oil on canvas50cm x 50cm (19.7” x 19.7”)
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Waterlilies, Gold,oil on canvas20cm x 25cm (7.9” x 9.8”)
Timur D’Vatz was born in the USSR in 1968, and studied at the Republican College of Art in Tashkent, Uzbekistan from 1983-87. Between 1993 and 1996 he attended the Post-Graduate courses at Royal Academy Schools, London. Having met Christopher Burness in 1992, he has been represented by Cadogan ever since. In this time, D’Vatz has exhibited across the continent and has been awarded a number of accolades including the BP Portrait Award at the National Portrait Gallery in 2002. His artwork is included in many private collections globally.
Education
1983-87 |
Republican College of Art, Tashkent | |
1993-96 | Post-Graduate Royal Academy Schools, London | |
Awarded Jack Goldhill and Sir James Walker Scholarships |
Selected Exhibitions
2024 |
'Arcadian Dreams', Andakulova Gallery, Dubai, UAE. |
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2022-23 |
'Reawakening', Andakulova Gallery, Dubai, UAE. |
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2021-22 |
'Myths and Journeys', Andakulova Gallery, Dubai, UAE. |
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2020 |
'Byzantine Journeys', Andakulova Gallery, Dubai, UAE. |
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Solo Exhibition, Cadogan Gallery, London, UK (and 8 others since 2000). |
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2019 |
Scriptorial, Avranches, France. |
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2015 | Galerie Montmartre, Paris, France. | |
2013 | Uzebkistan Embassy exhibition, London, UK. | |
2010 | Design Museum, London, UK. | |
2006 | Opera Gallery, Paris, France (Venice 2007, Dubai 2008, Singapore 2009, Dubai 2013, Beirut 2016). | |
2002 | BP Portrait Award 2002, National Portrait Gallery, London, UK. | |
Modigliani Centre, Florence, Italy. | ||
1996 | Degree Show Royal Academy of Arts, London, UK. Awarded A. T. Kearney Prize. | |
1994 | Royal Academy of Arts Summer Exhibition, London, UK (and in 1995). | |
Awarded Guinness Prize for ‘First Time Exhibitor’. |
Selected Projects
2015 | Unveiled large commission (4 x 3 metres) ‘The Flight Into Egypt', Notre Dame de France church, London, UK. | |
Alice + Olivia , NY Fashion collaboration, USA. | ||
2014 | ‘The English Knight’ by Christopher Long, Illustrations by Timur D’Vatz, published by Pont-Farcy, Normandy, | |
France. | ||
Unveiled commissions at Four Seasons Hotel, Moscow, Russia. | ||
2011 | London Fashion Week, set design for Corrie Nielsen Show, Somerset House, London, UK. |
Selected Publications
Dec 2014 | Carol Cordrey, Art and Antiques, Kensington & Chelsea Magazine. | |
Nov 2014 | RussianUK Magazine, В контакте с цругйм пространством. | |
Feb 2013 | Anna Seaman, ‘Who is Timur D’Vatz?’, The National. | |
Pamella de Leon, Art in the City. |