“It is wonderful that figurative realist painting is alive and thriving despite the introduction of photography over 150 years ago. To me, this proves that an artist’s hand and soul, along with his eagle eye, cannot be replaced by a machine. The vibration of the artist’s heart and his unique skills are the most valuable and exciting part of realist painting,” says Leonid Gervits.

Mr. Gervits graduated from the National Academy of Fine Arts in St. Petersburg, Russia, where his mastery of art was honed by deep-rooted European traditions of figurative art. After postgraduate studies, he became a professor at the Repin Institute of the Academy of Fine Arts. In 1991, Mr. Gervits moved to the United States.

He has exhibited widely around the world from Japan to Spain, and has had one-man exhibitions at Princeton University; the Dow Jones Gallery; Medici House Gallery, Zurich, Switzerland; 1100 Madison Gallery, New York City; the Pushkin Museum, Odessa, Ukraine; the Santa Fe Fine Arts Gallery, Santa Fe, N.M.; and the Tiroche Auction House, Herzliya, Israel.

His work is in numerous private and international collections in France, Switzerland, Germany, Norway, Japan and the United States.  His work is in many collections, including the Zimmerli Art Museum of Rutgers University; the National Academy of Fine Arts in St. Petersburg; the State Art Museum and the Pushkin Museum, both in Odessa, Ukraine; and other museums in Russia.

Mr. Gervits is represented by the Chrysalis Gallery (Southampton, N.Y.) and Portrait South, Inc. (Raleigh, N.C.), among others.