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Alexander Pogrebinsky

 

Alexander Pogrebinsky is a Ukrainian-born American painter who was the creator of the School of philosophical realism and is known for his portraits.  The Seven Hills resident studied at the Kiev State Institute of Fine Arts and earned a Ph.D in Fine Art from The Academy of Fine Art of the U.S.S.R..  In the Soviet Union Pogrebinsky's works appeared on magazine covers, posters, and in national and international exhibitions. However, he refused to join the Communist Party and in 1990, with his wife, and their two children, he used a travel visa to Paris to escape the Soviet Union. After traveling through Europe, the family arrived in New York City in January 1991, where they were granted political asylum by the U.S. Government.

 

As soon as Alexander arrived in the United States, he began exhibiting and painting.  In the 1990s, he worked largely in oils and watercolors. He has painted the portraits of many religious leaders in the United States, and has taught Art and Painting at the Cleveland Institute of Art and John Carroll University. 

 

As in the USSR, Pogrebinsky received many commissions, and became increasingly known for his realistic portraits. Notable among his personal works of this period is the triptych "Moon, Earth, Sun."  A whole series of rose paintings appeared in 1998 and continues to the present day. These are some of his most successful and recognizable works.

 

Since immigrating to the United States, Alexander has shown his work across the country and around the world. In 2008, Pogrebinsky's work was displayed at the Ukrainian Embassy to the United States, in Washington D.C.