Born on November 27, 1966 in Moscow. Lives and works in Moscow.
Corresponding member (2011), Academician of the Russian Academy of Arts (Painting Department, 2021).
Honored Artist of Russia (2009).
Member of the All-Russian Public Organization "Creative Union of Artists of Russia" (since 1997).
Education: Yaroslavl Art College (1982–1986), Russian Academy of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture (1989–1995).
Main works. Painting: "Blagovest" (2005), "Vasilkovaya Rus'" (2010), "Mother Volga" (2005), "Russian Birches" (1988–1991), "Height of Summer" (2011), "Solstice" (2012), "The Airy Step of Spring. Plyos" (2017), "Festive Autumn" (2007).
Sculpture: Monuments installed to Ivan the Terrible in Oryol (2016), to St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in Lipetsk (2021), to Protopope Avvakum in Borovsk (2020).
Architectural projects: chapel "Tsar's Golgotha" in Kostroma for the 400th anniversary of the Romanov dynasty (2013), Cultural and Exhibition Center in the city of Kostroma (under construction).
Public activities: Author and host of the program "Thoughts on the Beautiful" on the "Soyuz" TV channel (since 2012).
Participant in numerous exhibitions in Russia and abroad since 1982. Solo exhibitions: Kostroma Art Museum "Nobility Assembly" (Kostroma, since 2016), Kostroma City Administration (2016), "20x30" for the 50th anniversary and 30 years of creative work at the International Foundation for Slavic Culture and Literacy (Moscow, 2016), Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Moscow, 2017), "Holy Rus'" at the Church House at Rogozhskoye (Moscow, 2018), "Under the Birches" at the Russian Academy of Arts (Moscow, 2021).
Curator and participant of the "Protected Rus'" exhibition for the 400th anniversary of Protopope Avvakum at the Zurab Tsereteli Art Gallery (Moscow, 2020).
State and public prizes and awards: Order "Pious Tsar Ivan IV Vasilyevich" for service to the Russian state in word and deed (2006), laureate of the Central Federal District Prize in literature and art in the "Painting" nomination (2007), "Governor’s Letter of Gratitude" from V.V. Potomsky, Oryol Region (2014), medal "St. Martyr Theodore Stratelates" of the Kostroma Diocese (2016), medal "Saints Cyril and Methodius" from the International Foundation for Slavic Literacy and Culture (2016).
The art of leading contemporary painter and landscape master Oleg Ivanovich Molchanov is firmly inscribed in the history of Russian and world art, having received widespread recognition both in Russia and abroad. He brought to Russian art his profound creative interpretation of the great traditions of the past.
The beginning of the 21st century marks a new important period in O.I. Molchanov’s career. He is one of those masters who connect centuries through their art, successfully developing the national school of landscape painting. The artist’s work, imbued with spiritual depth, is in constant evolution. Thanks to continual creative searching, the figurative and plastic language of his recent works has become more complex. This is evidenced by pieces presented at exhibitions in recent years in Russia and abroad, as well as by his numerous awards.
Molchanov's art, rooted in moral and ethical values, enriches modern culture. Over nearly 40 years of creative work, O.I. Molchanov has produced about a thousand paintings. The best of his narrative and portrait compositions, still lifes and landscapes have found honorable places in the collections of museums of our country and in state and private collections abroad.
O.I. Molchanov is rightfully one of the leading masters of plein air painting. His landscapes are built upon the picturesque harmony of earth and sky, and distant and close perspectives. His passion for plein air, attention to the pictorial discoveries of the Impressionists, led to the creation of entire series of wonderful landscapes of Russia’s central regions.
The artist's achievements in monumental art are significant. Among the first in Russia, Molchanov turned to reviving monumental painting for the Russian Orthodox Church. He has painted more than 10 churches, created the artistic decor for the chapel "Tsar's Golgotha" in Kostroma, and carried out the restoration of the iconostasis of the Church of All Saints on Kulishki in Moscow.
Thanks to his high professionalism, vast experience, and constant creative search, Molchanov turns to new artistic genres, creating expressive monuments to Saint Great Martyr Tsar Ivan IV the Terrible (2016, Oryol), Protopope Avvakum (2020, Borovsk), and St. Nicholas the Wonderworker (2021, Lipetsk).
Molchanov is one of the leading experts in exhibition work in our country. This is the result of his diverse, long-term experience in organizing exhibitions. With his direct participation, socially significant contemporary projects have been realized, such as the "Crimea is Ours" display in Oryol in 2019, the anniversary art exhibition "Protected Rus'" dedicated to the 400th anniversary of Protopope Avvakum in the Russian Academy of Arts in Moscow (2020), and the "Hidden Rus'" art exhibition in Oryol.
These exhibitions are significant events in Russian culture. They played an important role in uniting visual artists and became an impetus for addressing many pressing artistic challenges of our time.
O.I. Molchanov’s educational activity is of lasting importance for both Russian and world culture, through his author program "Thoughts on the Beautiful" on the "Soyuz" TV channel, dedicated to the lives and works of outstanding artists as well as young Russian artists.
Painter O.I. Molchanov, through his outstanding creativity, large-scale public activity, and dedicated work for the benefit of future generations, makes an exceptional contribution to the development of Russian and world culture.
L.V. Shirshova, art critic, Honored Worker of Culture of the Russian Federation, Academician of the Russian Academy of Arts.
