Popular artists of the 21st century. Talented artists create extraordinary paintings

The world is full of creative people and every day hundreds of new paintings appear, new songs are written. Of course, in the world of art, there are some missteps, but there are such masterpieces of real masters that are simply breathtaking! We will show you their work today.

pencil augmented reality

Photo artist Ben Heine continued to work on his project, which is a mixture of pencil drawings and photography. First, he makes a freehand sketch with a pencil on paper. Then he photographs the drawing against the background of a real object and refines the resulting image in Photoshop, adding contrast and saturation. The result is magic!

Illustrations by Alisa Makarova

Alisa Makarova is a talented artist from St. Petersburg. In an age when most of the images are created using a computer, the interest of our compatriot in traditional forms of painting is respected. One of her latest projects is the triptych "Vulpes Vulpes", which shows charming fiery red foxes. Beauty, and more!

Fine engraving

Wood artists Paul Rodin and Valerie Lou have announced the creation of a new engraving entitled "Moth". The painstaking work and exquisite craftsmanship of the authors do not leave indifferent even the most stubborn skeptics. The engraving will be on display at an upcoming exhibition in Brooklyn on November 7th.

Ballpoint pen drawings

Probably, at least once in lectures, instead of writing down the words of the teacher, everyone drew various figures in a notebook. Was the artist Sarah Esteje (Sarah Esteje) among these students is unknown. But the fact that her drawings with a ballpoint pen are impressive is an indisputable fact! Sarah just proved that you don't need to have any special materials at all in order to create something really interesting.

Surrealistic worlds of Artem Chebokha

Russian artist Artem Chebokha creates incredible worlds where only the sea, the sky and endless harmony exist. For his new works, the artist chose very poetic images - a wanderer traveling through unknown places and whales circling in clouds-waves - this master's flight of fantasy is simply limitless.

Spot portraits

Someone thinks about the stroke technique, someone thinks about the contrast of light and shadow, but the artist Pablo Jurado Ruiz draws with dots! The artist developed the ideas of the pointillism genre, which was still inherent in the authors of the neo-impressionism era, and created his own style, where details are everything. Thousands of touches on paper result in realistic portraits that you just want to look at.

Pictures from diskettes

In an era when many things and technologies become obsolete at the speed of an express passing by, quite often you have to get rid of unnecessary rubbish. However, as it turned out, not everything is so sad, and a very modern work of art can be made from old objects. English artist Nick Gentry (Nick Gentry) collected square diskettes from friends, took a jar of paint, and painted stunning portraits on them. It turned out very nice!

On the verge of realism and surrealism

Berlin artist Harding Meyer loves to paint portraits, but in order not to become another hyperrealist, he decided to experiment and created a series of portraits on the verge of reality and surrealism. These works allow us to look at the human face as something more than just a "dry portrait", highlighting its basis - the image. As a result of such searches, Harding's work was noticed by the Gallery of Modern Art in Munich, which will exhibit the artist's work on November 7th.

Finger painting on iPad

Many modern artists are experimenting with materials to create paintings, but the Japanese Seikou Yamaoka outdid them all, taking his iPad as a canvas. He simply installed the ArtStudio application and began not only to draw, but to reproduce the most famous masterpieces of art. Moreover, he does this not with some special brushes, but with his finger, which is admired even by people who are far from the world of art.

"Wooden" painting

Using everything from ink to tea, woodworking artist Mandy Tsung has created truly mesmerizing paintings filled with passion and energy. As the main theme, she chose the mysterious image of a woman and her position in the modern world.

hyperrealist

Every time you find the work of hyperrealist artists, you involuntarily ask yourself the question: “Why are they doing all this?” Each of them has their own answer to this and sometimes a rather contradictory philosophy. But the artist Dino Tomik says bluntly: "I just love my family very much." Day and night he painted and tried not to miss a single detail from the portrait of his relatives. One such drawing took him at least 70 hours of work. To say that the parents were delighted means to say nothing.

Soldier portraits

October 18 at the London gallery Opera Gallery launched an exhibition of works by Joe Black (Joe Black) called "Ways of Seeing". To create his paintings, the artist used not only paints, but also the most unusual materials - bolts, badges and much more. However, the main material was .... toy soldiers! The most interesting exhibits of the exposition are portraits of Barack Obama, Margaret Thatcher and Mao Zedong.

Sensual oil portraits

Korean artist Lee Rim (Lee Rim) was not so famous a couple of days ago, but her new paintings "Girls in Paint" caused a wide response and resonance in the art world. Lee says: “The main theme of my work is human emotions and psychological state. Even though we live in different environments, at some point in time we feel the same when we look at an object.” Perhaps that is why, looking at her work, I want to understand this girl and feel her thoughts.

Here is a selection of paintings by still little-known, but very talented artists. All the guys from Russia and our contemporaries. Watch, read and enjoy.

Guys, I write here all the time about quite famous and accomplished personalities. Of course, it would be much more interesting for me to write about those artists that no one knows about yet, but what can you do - you can write about anything on the VKontakte public, and you can only write on a blog what people are looking for in Yandex and Google, otherwise, no one will go there except you. But for a change and pleasure, I, nevertheless, decided to make a selection of "Little-known contemporary artists of Russia and their paintings."

• What else is interesting? (links to other articles).
• Paintings by Marchuk, one of the most famous contemporary Ukrainian artists
• The legendary dean of the faculty of graphics of the famous Repinka.

Some of these guys are still at the very beginning of their journey, and some have already become relatively established and successfully sell their works on VKontakte or on marketplaces like a crafts fair and are even known in narrow circles, but they all have one thing in common - they are still not known to the general public. But unknown does not mean deprived of talent, so I think it will be interesting for you to look. I decided to include here not only the draftsmen themselves, but also several sculptors.

Little-known contemporary Russian artists and their paintings. Illustrators and painters.

Little known artists. Color surrealistic modern in the paintings of Maria Susarenko.

I learned about this artist not so long ago and almost immediately fell in love with her paintings. Partly because she is very close to me in spirit as an artist, partly because of the admiration for technology and a riot of imagination. Maria Susarenko is a sweet girl from St. Petersburg and a graduate of the famous St. A.L. Stieglitz. Maria Susarenko's paintings are an exuberant mix of Art Nouveau and Surrealism. They look very bright and decorative.

Pictures of little-known artists. Works by Maria Susarenko

Amazing detail!

Little known artists. Saturday Dasha.

The eternal motif of Yuralga is cats.
Funny weirdo. This is the kind of brooch I would wear.

MOAR — https://vk.com/shamancats

Little-known contemporary artists of Russia. Sculptors.

Even if there are not paintings, but decorations, they are so seductive and loving that I could not resist. After all, a sculptor is also an artist. Yes, an artist can be a painter, graphic artist, illustrator or sculptor (your captain is obvious). Here are two girls whose jewelry would not shame René Lalique himself.

Little known artists. Grimoire of the Black Hen.

In the workshop "Grimoire La poule noire", which in translation is "Grimoire of the black hen" (your captain is obvious), Lera Prokopets is in charge. Lera is a miniature sculptor and simply a gorgeous lady. She works primarily with polymer clay and stones. Lera creates stunning jewelry in a style that I would call gothic art nouveau. Such, slightly witchish, dark, but graceful beauty. Well, still, it's a "grimoire of a black chicken."

Little known artists. Original Art Nouveau jewelry. Photo from the workshop "Grimoire of the Black Hen".

Hekate, Greek goddess of the night.
Morphine. Thin:) Either demons or vampires with their tongues hanging out is one of Lera's favorite motifs.

Today, contemporary painting has gained incredible popularity, therefore it has become known not only for its tendency to push boundaries and explore new means of expression, but also for record sales in the contemporary art market over the past few years. Moreover, artists from almost all over the world, from America to Asia, enjoy success. Next, you will find out whose names are represented by the best contemporary painting in the world, who is he, the most expensive contemporary artist, and who is a little short of this title.

The most expensive contemporary artists

Among the myriad of names that modern painting has, the paintings of only certain artists enjoy exceptional success. Among them, the most expensive paintings were the famous neo-expressionist and graffiti artist Jean-Michel Basquiat, who, however, died at the age of 27. In our list, you will see only the first seven of those wealthy artists who are alive to this day.

Bryce Marden

The works of this American author are quite difficult to classify and bring to a single art direction, although he is often referred to as representatives of either minimalism or abstractionism. But unlike artists in these styles, whose paintings seem to have never been touched, Marden's contemporary painting retains palette knife strokes and other traces of his work. One of those who influenced his work is considered to be another contemporary artist Jasper Johns, whose name you will meet later.

Zeng Fanzhi

This contemporary artist is one of the main figures of the Chinese art scene today. It was his work called "The Last Supper", created based on the famous work of Leonardo da Vinci, was sold for 23.3 million dollars and became the most expensive painting that modern Asian painting can boast of. Also known are the works of the artist "Self-portrait", the triptych "Hospital" and paintings from the series "Masks".

In the 1990s, his painting style often changed and eventually moved from expressionism to symbolism.

Peter Doig

Peter Doig is a world-famous Scottish contemporary artist whose work is inspired by the theme of magical realism. Many of his works tend to disorient the viewer, even when they depict recognizable images such as figures, trees, and buildings.

In 2015, his painting "Swamped" managed to break the record and become the most expensive painting by contemporary artists from Scotland, being sold at auction for 25.9 million. Doig's paintings "Architect's House in the Hollow", "White Canoe", "Reflection", "Roadside Diner" and others are also popular.

Christopher Wool

Contemporary artist Christopher Wool explores various post-conceptual ideas in his work. The artist's most famous modern paintings are block inscriptions depicted in black on a white canvas.

Such paintings by contemporary artists cause a lot of controversy and dissatisfaction among adherents of traditional painting, but, one way or another, one of Wool's works - "Apocalypse" - brought him 26 million dollars. Wool does not think about the titles of the paintings for a long time, but names them according to the inscriptions: “Blue Fool”, “Troubles”, etc.

Jasper Johns

Contemporary artist Jasper Johns is known for his rebellious attitude towards abstract expressionism, which dominated the painting scene early in his career. Moreover, he works by creating costly canvases with flags, license plates, numbers and other well-known symbols that already have a clear meaning and do not need to be deciphered.

By the way, the most expensive paintings by contemporary artists include the work of the American "Flag", sold at auction in 2010 for $ 28 million. You can also look at the works "Three Flags", "False Start", "From 0 to 9", "Target with Four Faces" and many others.

Gerhard Richter

This contemporary artist from Germany, like many painters at the beginning of his career, studied realistic academic painting, but later became interested in more progressive art.

In the author's work, one can see the influence of many art trends of the 20th century, such as abstract expressionism, pop art, minimalism and conceptualism, but at the same time, Richter retained a skeptical attitude towards all established artistic and philosophical beliefs, being sure that modern painting is dynamics and search. The artist's works include "Land of meadows", "Reading", "1024 colors", "Wall", etc.

Jeff Koons

And finally, here he is - the most expensive contemporary artist in the world. American Jeff Koons works in the neo-pop style and is known for his catchy, kitsch and defiant creativity.

He is mainly known as the author of a huge number of modern sculptures, some of which were exhibited in Versailles itself. But also among the artist's works there are paintings for which special connoisseurs are ready to give millions of dollars: "Liberty Bell", "Auto", "Girl with a Dolphin and Monkey", "Saddle" and others.

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Major international auctions are increasingly including contemporary Russian artists in their auctions of post-war and contemporary art. In February 2007, Sotheby's held the first and almost sensational specialized auction of Russian contemporary art, which brought 22 auction records. Artguide decided to find out which of our contemporary artists collected the largest sums at international auctions and, having compiled the top 10 most expensive living Russian artists based on the results of auction sales, discovered some curious patterns. All sales prices are given according to the auction houses, taking into account the buyer's premium.

Alexander Vinogradov and Vladimir Dubossarsky. Night fitness. Fragment. Courtesy authors (www.dubossarskyvinogradov.com)

Of course, there could be no doubt about who exactly became the leader of the auction race: the grandiose “Beetle” by Ilya Kabakov, sold in February 2008 at Phillips de Pury for almost £3 million, is probably remembered by everyone who is interested in contemporary art. A funny nursery rhyme, the text of which is written on a wooden panel with a beetle, even acquired a thoughtful intonation in the art history and market interpretation: “My beetle breaks out, jumps, chirps, it doesn’t want to get into my collection” - this metaphorically means the passion of a collector of contemporary art, for this same beetle trading. (The verse quoted by Kabakov, composed by the architect A. Maslennikova, an amateur poet from Voronezh, was published in the children's collection of poems, counting rhymes and riddles Between Summer and Winter, published in 1976 by the Children's Literature publishing house, and Kabakov illustrated this book True, that beetle was not in his black-and-white illustrations).

It should be added that if we did not make the top 10 most expensive living artists, but the top 10 of their most expensive works, then Kabakov's paintings would take the first three places on this list. That is, the three most expensive works of the now living Russian artist belong to him - in addition to the "Beetle", these are "Luxury Room" in 1981 (Phillips de Pury, London, June 21, 2007, £ 2.036 million) and "Vacation No. 10" in 1987 (Phillips de Pury London, 14 April 2011, £1.497m). On top of that, the generous Kabakov "gave" another record to the Vienna Dorotheum auction - a year ago, on November 24, 2011, the painting "At the University" went there for €754.8 thousand, becoming the most expensive work of contemporary art ever sold on this auction.

The silver medalist, probably, many will also easily name - this is Eric Bulatov, whose canvas "Glory to the CPSU" was sold for a record amount for the artist at the same Phillips de Pury auction as Kabakov's "Beetle".

But the third place of the non-conformist Yevgeny Chubarov, whose late work "Untitled" went in June 2007 to Phillips de Pury for £ 720 thousand, could be called a surprise, if not for the fact that a few months earlier, in February of that the same year, Chubarov had already made a splash at Sotheby's in London, at a specialized auction of Russian contemporary art, where his work with the same name (or rather, without it) was sold for £288,000 (with an upper limit of the estimate of £60,000), not only beating the alleged top lot of that auction, Bulatov's painting "Revolution - Perestroika" (sale price £ 198 thousand), but also becoming the most expensive work of the living Russian artist at that time. By the way, here it is, the irony of currency fluctuations: in November 2000, Grisha Bruskin's polyptych was sold in New York for $424 thousand, and then in pounds sterling it was £296.7 thousand, and in February 2007, when it was installed Chubarov's first record is already only £216.6 thousand.

The works of fourth-place winners Vitaly Komar and Alexander Melamid are frequent and quite successful lots in Western auctions, although their estimates rarely exceed £100,000. The duo's second most expensive work is Yalta Conference. The Judgment of Paris "- was sold at Macdougall's in 2007 for £ 184.4 thousand. But it should be noted, of course, that the painting that brought them fourth place belongs to rather early and rarely appearing works at auctions and that it was exhibited in 1976 at the first (and very loud) foreign exhibition of Komar and Melamid at the Ronald Feldman Gallery in New York.

Following Komar and Melamid, Oleg Vasiliev and Semyon Faibisovich consistently hold a high bar at auctions. Vasilyev was third in that extraordinarily successful 2008 Phillips de Pury auction, which brought records to Ilya Kabakov and Erik Bulatov, while Faibisovich was fourth. Then Vasiliev's painting "Variation on the theme of the cover of the Ogonyok magazine" in 1980 was sold for ₤356 thousand with an estimate of ₤120 thousand, and Faibisovich's "Another look at the Black Sea" in 1986 - for £300.5 thousand with Estimate £60,000-80,000. Works by both artists often fetch six-figure sums at auction.

True, it was not the record-breaking “Soldiers” that brought fame to Faibisovich at auction, but the painting “Beauty”, sold at Sotheby’s on March 12, 2008 - this was the auction house’s second auction of contemporary Russian art, except for the Moscow auction of 1988. The painting (its other name is “The First of May”) then went for £264 thousand with an estimate of £60-80 thousand, a real battle unfolded between buyers for it. Another painting by Faibisovich “On a Moscow street” at that auction exceeded the estimate twice and was sold for £126,000 2011-2012.

Roughly the same can be said about Oleg Tselkov, who is eighth in the top 10. Having found his style and theme half a century ago, a recognizable and authoritative artist, he regularly supplies auctions with his fluorescent round faces, which have continued success. The second most expensive painting by Tselkov "Five Faces" was sold in June 2007 at MacDougall's for £223.1 thousand, the third, "Two with Beetles", - in November of the same year at the same auction (MacDougall's always put up for auction several Tselkov different price range) for £202.4 thousand.

Grisha Bruskin has had a special role in the auction history of Russian contemporary art since 1988, from the Moscow auction of Sotheby's under the name Russian Avant-Garde and Soviet Contemporary Art, where his "Fundamental Lexicon" was sold for a sensational £ 220 thousand, 12 times higher estimate. Approximately the same, and perhaps even more sensational, happened with the polyptych “Logii. Part I" in 2000 at Christie's in New York: the polyptych sold for $424,000, exceeding the upper limit of the estimate by 21 (!) times - this alone can be considered a kind of record. Most likely, this extraordinary purchase is due not least to the significance of Bruskin's name as the hero of the legendary Sotheby's Moscow auction, because no other auction sales of Bruskin even come close to these amounts.

The price of Oscar Rabin does not fluctuate, but grows steadily and very noticeably, especially for the works of the Soviet period - all the most expensive works of this master sold at auction were painted in the late 1950s and early 1970s. These are (besides his record "Socialist City") "Baths (Smell the cologne "Moscow", 1966, Sotheby's, New York, April 17, 2007, $ 336 thousand) and "Violin in the cemetery" (1969, Macdougall's, London, November 27 2006, £168.46).

The top ten is closed by representatives of the younger generation - Alexander Vinogradov and Vladimir Dubossarsky, whose most expensive paintings were sold at Phillips de Pury (the second most expensive is The Last Butterfly, 1997, Phillips de Pury, New York, $181,000). These artists, in general, continue a trend that is quite clearly visible in the ranking of the most expensive paintings by living artists. We will talk about it a little lower, but for now, finally, here is a list of the most expensive works of living Russian artists.

Top 10 works of living Russian artists

1. Ilya Kabakov (b. 1933). Bug. 1982. Wood, enamel. 226.5 x 148.5. Auction Phillips de Pury & Company, London, February 28, 2008. Estimate £1.2-1.8 million. Sale price £2.93 million.

2. Erik Bulatov (b. 1933). Glory to the CPSU. 1975. Oil on canvas. 229.5 x 229. Auction Phillips de Pury & Company, London, February 28, 2008. Estimate £500-700 thousand. Sale price £1.084 million.

3. Evgeny Chubarov (b. 1934). Untitled. 1994. Oil on canvas. 300 x 200. Phillips de Pury & Company auction, London, June 22, 2007. Estimate £100-150 thousand. Sale price £720 thousand.

4. Vitaly Komar (b. 1943) and Alexander Melamid (b. 1945). Solzhenitsyn and Bell meeting at Rostropovich's dacha. 1972. Canvas, oil, collage, gold foil. 175 x 120. Phillips de Pury & Company auction, London, April 23, 2010. Estimate £100-150 thousand. Sale price £657.25 thousand.

5. Oleg Vasilyev (b. 1931). Before sunset. 1990. Oil on canvas. 210 x 165. Sotheby's auction, London, March 12, 2008. Estimate £200-300 thousand. Sale price £468.5 thousand.

6. Semyon Faibisovich (b. 1949). Soldiers. From the series "Stations". 1989. Oil on canvas. 285.4 x 190.5. Auction Phillips de Pury & Company, London, October 13, 2007. Estimate £40-60 thousand. Sale price £311.2 thousand.

8. Oleg Tselkov (b. 1934) Boy with balloons. Canvas, oil. 103.5 x 68.5. Auction MacDougall's, London, November 28, 2008. Estimate £200-300 thousand. Sale price £238.4 thousand.

9. Oscar Rabin (b. 1928) City and moon (Socialist city). 1959. Oil on canvas. 90 x 109. Sotheby's auction, New York, April 15, 2008. Estimate $120-160 thousand. Sale price $337 thousand (£171.4 at the dollar to pound rate in April 2008).

10. Alexander Vinogradov (b. 1963) and Vladimir Dubossarsky (b. 1964). Night workout. 2004. Oil on canvas. 194.9 x 294.3. Auction Phillips de Pury & Company, London, June 22, 2007. Estimate £15-20 thousand. Sale price £132 thousand.

It is known that auction prices are an irrational thing and one cannot judge the true role and significance of the artist in the artistic process by them. But on the basis of them and the top lots, one can roughly judge the collector's preferences. What are they? You don't have to be an expert to answer this question. They are obvious. Firstly, all artists (except perhaps Alexander Vinogradov and Vladimir Dubossarsky) are “living classics” in years, and very solid ones at that. Secondly, almost all of them set records not by works of recent years, but by much earlier ones, that is, the pattern “the older, the better” is also relevant here. Thirdly, without exception, all works from the top 10 are easel paintings. Fourthly, these are all large and very large paintings. More or less "standard" in this respect can only be considered "The City and the Moon" by Oscar Rabin and "Boy with Balloons" by Oleg Tselkov, all the rest are great in height (not even in width) human growth. Finally, for all these artists, the theme of the Soviet (in particular, nonconformist) past is relevant in one way or another, which in many cases is accentuated in their works. It seems that our collectors are experiencing acute nostalgia for this very Soviet past (it is common knowledge that it is Russian collectors who buy Russian art in the West).

Younger than the rest of the auction sales leaders, Alexander Vinogradov and Vladimir Dubossarsky are somewhat stubbornly trying to break out of the dozens of harsh nonconformists, but this is only at first glance. In fact, if you imagine which of the next generation after Kabakov, Bulatov, Rabin, Vasiliev, Tselkovy can best meet the above criteria of purchase (large-sized easel paintings, rehashings of Soviet genres, motifs and stylistics), then it will probably turn out to be Vinogradov and Dubossarsky, worthy heirs of the masters of previous decades. At least judging by the auction sales.

Art is constantly evolving, as is the whole world around us. Modern artists of the 21st century and their paintings are not at all like those that existed in the Middle Ages, the Renaissance. New names, materials, genres, ways of expressing talents appear. In this ranking, we will get acquainted with ten innovative artists of our time.

10. Pedro Campos. In tenth place is the Spaniard, whose brush can easily compete with the camera, he paints such realistic canvases. For the most part, he creates still lifes, but it is not so much the themes of his paintings that bring amazing admiration, but the masterful embodiment. Textures, glare, depth, perspective, volume - all this Pedro Campos subordinated to his brush, so that reality, and not fiction, looked at the viewer from the canvas. Without embellishment, without romanticism, only reality, this is the meaning of the genre of photorealism. By the way, the artist acquired his attention to detail and scrupulousness at the work of a restorer.

9. Richard Estes. Another admirer of the photorealism genre, Richard Estes, started with ordinary painting, but later moved on to painting urban landscapes. Today's artists and their creations do not need to adapt to anyone, and that's great, everyone can express themselves the way they want in what they want. As in the case of Pedro Campos, the works of this master can easily be confused with photographs, the city is so similar to the real one. You rarely see people in Estes' paintings, but almost always there are reflections, glare, parallel lines and a perfect, ideal composition. Thus, he does not just copy the urban landscape, but finds perfection in it and tries to show it.

8. Kevin Sloan There are an incredible number of contemporary artists of the 21st century and their paintings, but not every one of them is worth attention. The American Kevin Sloan is worth it, because his works seem to move the viewer into another dimension, a world full of allegories, hidden meanings, metaphorical mysteries. The artist loves to paint animals, because, in his opinion, he gets more freedom in this way than with people to tell the story. Sloane has been creating his “trick reality” with oils for almost 40 years. Very often, clocks appear on the canvases: either an elephant or an octopus look at them; this image can be interpreted as passing time or as the limitations of life. Each picture of Sloan is amazing, I want to unravel what the author wanted to convey to her.

7. Laurent Parcelier. This painter belongs to those contemporary artists of the 21st century, whose paintings were recognized early, even during their studies. Laurent's talent manifested itself in the published albums under the general title "Strange World". He paints in oils, his style is light, gravitates towards realism. A characteristic feature of the artist's works is the abundance of light that seems to be pouring from the canvases. As a rule, he depicts landscapes, some recognizable places. All works are unusually light and airy, filled with sun, freshness, breath.

6. Jeremy Mann A native of San Francisco loved his city, most often depicted it in his paintings. Contemporary artists of the 21st century can draw inspiration for their paintings anywhere: in the rain, wet pavement, neon signs, city lights. Jeremy Mann infuses simple landscapes with mood, history, experimentation with techniques and color choices. Mann's main material is oil.

5. Hans Rudolf Giger. In fifth place is the unique, unique Hans Giger, the creator of Alien from the film of the same name. Today's artists and their works are diverse, but each is brilliant in its own way. This gloomy Swiss does not paint nature and animals, he prefers "biomechanical" painting, in which he succeeded. Some compare the artist with Bosch for the gloominess, the fantasticness of his canvases. Although Giger’s paintings smell of something otherworldly, dangerous, you can’t refuse him in technique, skill: he is attentive to details, correctly selects shades, thinks through everything to the smallest detail.

4. Will Barnet This artist has his own unique author's style, therefore his works are readily accepted by the great museums of the world: the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the National Gallery of Art, the British Museum, the Ashmolean Museum, the Vatican Museum. Contemporary artists of the 21st century and their works, in order to be recognized, must somehow stand out from the rest of the masses. And Will Barnett can do it. His works are graphic and contrasting, he often depicts cats, birds, women. At first glance, Barnett's paintings are simple, but upon further examination, you realize that this simplicity is precisely their genius.

3. Neil Simon. This is one of the contemporary artists of the 21st century, whose works are not as simple as they seem at first glance. Between the plots and the works of Neil Simon, the boundaries seem to be washed away, they flow from one to another, entail the viewer, drag him into the illusory world of the artist. Simon's creations are characterized by bright, saturated colors, which give them energy and strength, and evoke an emotional response. The master loves to play with perspective, the size of objects, with unusual combinations and unexpected shapes. There is a lot of geometry in the artist's works, which is combined with natural landscapes, as if rushing inside, but not destroying, but harmoniously complementing.

2. Igor Morsky. Today's 21st century artist and his paintings are often compared to the great genius Salvador Dali. The works of the Polish master are unpredictable, mysterious, exciting, evoke a vivid emotional response, and in places are insane. Like any other surrealist, he does not seek to show reality as it is, but shows facets that we will never see in life. Most often, the protagonist of Morsky's works is a man with all his fears, passions, and shortcomings. Also, the metaphors of the works of this surrealist often concern power. Of course, this is not the artist whose work you hang over the bed, but the one whose exhibition is definitely worth going to.

1. Yayoi Kusama. So, in the first place of our ranking is a Japanese artist who has achieved incredible success all over the world, despite the fact that she has some mental illnesses. The main "feature" of the artist is polka dots. She covers everything she sees with circles of various shapes and sizes, calling it all nets of infinity. Kusama's interactive exhibitions and installations are a success, because sometimes everyone wants (even if they don't admit it) to be inside the psychedelic world of hallucinations, childish spontaneity, fantasies and colorful circles. Among contemporary artists of the 21st century and their paintings, Yayoi Kusama is the best-selling.