Shevchenko, Nikolai

1937 -     

Nikolai Shevchenko was born in Ukraine, December 20, 1937. Following his graduation from art college in 1957, the young artist gained acceptance into the Kiev Art Institute (a.k.a. Kiev Art Academy). He graduated from the Institute in 1963, and began teaching at his alma mater that same year as an assistant professor in the painting department. He became a full professor at the Institute in 1975.
A member of the Union of Soviet Artists since 1964, Shevchenko participated in many State-sponsored art exhibitions throughout the Soviet Union and Europe. Many of Shevchenko's paintings were sold to private collectors in France by the USSR's Ministry of Culture in the 1980's. His popularity with French collectors carried over to post-Soviet times and the talented Ukrainian artist was feted with a personal exhibition in Paris in 1995.
Shevchenko gained the prestigious title, "Honored Artist of Ukraine", in 1979. His paintings may be found in museums in Kiev, Kharkov and Odessa in his native Ukraine, and in numerous major private collections in France, Germany, Russia and the United States. His painting, "Still Life with Apples" was in the permanent collection of The Fleischer Museum in Scottsdale, Arizona, until its closure in 2002.
Nikolai Shevchenko is married and has one daughter, who is also an artist. His father was a highly-respected artist in the Soviet Union who died in the 1980's. His father taught his son painting from early childhood until his admittance to art college.