Natalia Nesterova

Natalya Igorevna Nesterova (Russian: Ната́лья И́горевна Не́стерова; 1944–2022) was a Russian artist who was an academician with the Russian Academy of Fine Arts. Her work has been described as "strik[ing] the kind of delicate balance between the real and surreal which can evoke a feeling that something is not quite right even before one has the chance to figure out why". Because her works were painted "in a figurative primitivist manner while often depicting grotesque imagery, Nesterova was sometimes accused of undermining the foundations of Russian professional artistic training".

Biography Nesterova was born on April 23, 1944, in Moscow. Her first exhibition was with a young artists' group in 1966. She graduated from the Surikov Art Institute in 1968, after which she became a professor at the Russian Academy of Theatre Arts.

Fearing retaliation from the Russian government due to her criticism of the invasion of Ukraine, Nesterova settled in the United States in 2022.

Selected solo exhibitions 1990: Recent works from Moscow». Hal Bromm Gallery, New York 1992: Retrospective. Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal 2002: Russian Wanderings. Traveling exhibition. Lehman College Art Gallery, New York (cat). 2004: Natalya Nesterova. Reflections of Time Past. State Russian Museum . St. Peterburg (monograph). 2005: Summer Impressions. The National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, DC. 2023: Counterpoint. Hal Bromm Gallery, New York Kolodzei Art Foundation Ludwig Forum Museum for International Art (Aachen) Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (Montreal) Moscow Museum of Modern Art (Moscow) Museum of Contemporary Art (Budapest) National Museum of Women in the Arts (Washington, DC) Russian Museum (St. Petersburg) Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (New York) Tretyakov Gallery (Moscow) Zimmerli Art Museum at Rutgers University (New Jersey)