Weightlessness. Hovering (2021) Painting by Valery Budanov

Valery Budanov is a contemporary Russian painter. He began his artistic education at a children's art school, where he was taught by the talented watercolorist N.I. Ivanov, and later attended the Art College of Blagoveshchensk in the Amur Region, graduating in 1978. During his student years, Budanov traveled extensively across the Far East with geological expeditions, living in the taiga in a tent and encountering the untouched beauty of nature, including encounters with bears and wolves. He captured these experiences with watercolors and pencils, gathering a wealth of impressions from the taiga, mountains, the Sea of Japan, and the Sea of Okhotsk. Unfortunately, these works were stolen during his return journey, lost to the scattered paper left behind by the thieves.

Budanov later lived in Khabarovsk, where he worked in administrative roles and collaborated with publishing houses, creating graphic drawings and designing printed materials. In the late 1990s, he pursued a business career, but after moving to Moscow in 2004, he re-engaged with the creative arts.

In his paintings, Budanov expresses admiration for the beauty of the female form, often depicted in a style of romantic erotica. He is also drawn to themes of maritime scenes with historical ships, mountain landscapes, and animals. Portraiture, particularly the depiction of eyes as the "mirrors of the soul," is a favorite subject. Budanov continually seeks to develop his own unique style. His works are part of private collections in Russia, France, Germany, the USA, Canada, China, Taiwan, the Netherlands, Spain, and Portugal.

• Nationality: RUSSIA
• Date of birth : 1953
• Artistic domains:
• Groups: Russian Contemporary Artists