"Water Lilies at Dawn — Monet-Inspired Oil Painting" Painting

Vitaly Leshukov Soldatov is a contemporary painter living and working in Lloret de Mar, Spain.

For me, painting is a way to make sense of life, to pause and feel the moment. I do not copy photographs or try to reproduce a specific place. During my travels, walks in nature, and visits to museums, I remember light, color, forms, and my own impressions and emotions. Later, these memories come together on canvas. A single landscape may combine the Mediterranean coast, the lavender fields of Provence, the mountains of Spain, and impressions from places seen at completely different times. My landscapes are therefore built from memory and emotion rather than from a single real location.

I am also inspired by art history, Asian and Eastern legends, ancient Greek mythology, and traditional Chinese painting, especially imagery found on historic porcelain and ceramics. These influences are never copied directly. They mix with travel memories, nature, museum experiences, and my own imagination before appearing in a new form in my paintings.

I was born in Mirgorod, Ukraine, in 1968 and have lived in Spain since 2000. I came to painting after a serious accident that left me in a coma for five days. I am a self-taught artist; museums, travel, observation, and continuous experimentation with materials and techniques became my education.

I have held solo exhibitions in Spain, France, Andorra, and Japan and participated in international exhibitions and art fairs across Europe, Asia, and the UAE. I have been a finalist at Art Revolution Taipei three times. My works are held in museum and municipal collections, as well as in private collections throughout Europe, the United States, and Asia.