Russian 20th Century Impressionism Through a Painter’s Eye

Gallery8:15                      Dinner after the lecture- reservations required; please call 212-255-7740
About the SCNY Members’ Meet and Greet:
SCNY Members are welcome to join us for a Meet and Greet prior to the lecture. Wine, cheese, snacks, and mingle, a great opportunity for new members to meet other members. Enjoy the privileges of membership at this lovely reception in the historic parlor of the Salmagundi Club. A chance to learn about the club, make friends, and meet Viktor Butko our lecturer.
About the lecture:
Viktor Butko will introduce to us images of the important Russian Impressionists. It’s a wonderful period to discover, with paintings full of life, light and bucolic simplicity. In particular, he will discuss the unique phenomenon of the Academic Dacha of Repin and the artists who created paintings there and went down in the history of Soviet art. Butko's grandfather, Viktor Chulovich was a first-ranked Social Realist and Viktor's first teacher. Butko also had the good fortune to study with the late Aleksei Gritsai. Viktor's is a story of coming of age in the end of the Soviet times, surrounded by the art of his forebears, their children and grandchildren. His unique life experience allows him to speak on artists that are of towering importance in Russia today, but hardly known on American soil. He will talk about the artists, not as an art historian but through the prism of his memories.
About the speaker:
Viktor Butko was born in 1978 in Moscow, into a family of artists. He often visited the studio of his grandfather, the famous artist Victor Chulovich, and watched the creation of paintings. As you may imagine, this has inspired him to start painting. Viktor’s first steps in art were directed by his grandfather and his parents, artists Nickolay Butko and Marina Chulovich, he then studied at the Moscow Art School, which is known for a high level of training. After  completing his training at the art school, Butko painted at the Academic Dacha of Artists, created by the great Russian artist Ilya Repin for students of the Academy of Fine Arts. There he worked under the guidance of famous artists Alexey Gritsay and Tkachev brothers, which had a big impact on his creativity.
Viktor’s first solo show was held in the United States, in 2002 at the McCarthey Gallery, one of the foremost dealers in the United States for Russian Impressionist art. This marked the beginning of a long cooperation with the gallery. Later, in 2016, He took part in an international plein air event, which was organized by American painter Ben Fenske and art dealer Laura Grenning. As a result of this Russian-American Painting Alliance a large exhibition was held in the Grenning Gallery in Sag Harbor. His work is in the Vyshniy Volochek Museum collection, Collection of the IRRA and private collections in Russia, China and the U.S. Butko regularly paints in Sag Harbor and Maine as well as Russia and Italy and is represented by the Grenning Gallery, gWatson Gallery, Williams Fine Art and the McCarthey Gallery. He lives with his wife, Kelly Carmody, in Waltham Massachusetts, where they paint and teach in and around their studio. 
In conjunction wit this event, attendees are welcome to dine in the Club Dining Room. Reservations are required. Please call 212-255-7740 to make your reservation for after the lecture.