"Two Little American Girls in Cape Town Area" Painting

Innokenti Baranov was born in Moscow and studied graphics at the Moscow Academic Art College 1905. He also studied the art of painting and animated film at the University for Applied Arts in Vienna, Austria. Today he lives and works in Berlin, Germany. Innokenti Baranov's artwork is heavily influence by Russian and European art – particularly, expressionism that is historically rooted in central Europe (Germany, France, and Austria) – with a great contribution of Russian artists who lived there (W. Kandinsky, A. Jawlensky, M. Werefkin et al). This is expressed by highly intense colors as well as by reinterpreted classical plots and grotesque, sometimes even distorted, human characters and objects. His Russian art schooling is reflected mainly in remarkably colorful and evocative still lifes, landscapes and portraits. Innokenti Baranov has exhibited his paintings, graphics, and caricatures in more than 20 countries in Europe and the U.S. In addition to his passion for painting, Baranov has worked on illustrations for more than 10 books, which have been published in Austria, Germany and Russia and he also has a serious interest in caricature. His cartoons have parodied many well-known German athletes and politicans, and his caricature work has been the subject of several exhibitions. The artist wishes to express his cultural environment as well as his feelings of hope, fear, and complex existentialism through his works without prejudice. As a conscious cosmopolitan, he is using his art to discard outdated ideas and induce mutual sympathy and faith to create an open-minded world view.