About Friends, art, contemporary...
In April 2001 a highly successful exhibition of works by Dmitry Shuvalov took place near Cologne. We were very glad to make Professor Shuvalov’s acquaintance at the vernissage. During those days we had several opportunities to discuss his life and his teaching work with him, as well as his views on creativity. Despite a difficult childhood, including the horrors of war and famine, he never complained about his life, and he loved his native country. We saw this reflected in his paintings. Whether in oils or watercolors, his subjects always convey the subtlety with which the artist has perceived all the emotion of a Russian or Ukrainian landscape, or give form to events such as a naval review, or the quiet moments of a still life.
Professor Shuvalov was a realist in his perception of life, and an adherent to tradition in his conception of painting. He wanted the majority of those who see his paintings to be able to understand and share the mood he captured there.
He was a masterful teacher, and sought to convey not just techniques, but spiritual knowledge. It was genuinely important to him that his students studied perspective and human anatomy as a scientific basis for painting and drawing, along with the requisite subjects and history of art; also that they developed a spatial-graphic mode of thinking. In speaking of him, we are talking about a genuinely outstanding artist and teacher. We knew this remarkable artist as a kind-hearted, erudite, and interested, but at the same time quite modest person. It is a great honor for us to have been personally acquainted with Professor Dmitry Shuvalov. We will cherish his memory.