Vladimir Dvorkin

Vladimir Dvorkin was a Jewish painter who left the Soviet Union and made his mark in the Israeli art world.

Dvorkin valued the techniques of old masters and often drew his inspiration from a grand library of classic oil painting styles, thus creating works with amalgamated techniques. His aesthetic approaches differed not to show his technical aptitude, but rather to better communicate the subject matter of each piece.

Vladimir Dvorkin was born on March 25th, 1937, in Dneprodzhinsk (now Kamianske), Ukraine. Despite being a talented young artist, Dvorkin followed his father’s wishes and obtained an Engineering degree from Tula Mechanical Institute. A prerequisite of attending the academy was completing basic military course, which Dvorkin refused. As punishment, the institute forced him into three years of military service. In 1962, Dvorkin moved to Ramenskoye where he worked as an engineer in the groundbreaking precision instrument aeronautics facility, though he was quickly promoted to the head of aesthetics due to his artistic ability. He began modelling buildings, designing interiors, most notably, Ramenskoye’s cultural centre and also the city’s museum. In 1964, Dvorkin enrolled at Stroganov Moscow State Academy of Arts and Industry, one of the oldest institutes for art and design in Russia, whose alumni include Vrubel, Korovin, Falk, Kuprin, and Kuzmin. In 1973, Dvorkin became head of the art department of the jewellery corporation in Bronnitsy. He was the author of many new and exclusive designs, some of which were compared to the work of Faberge and were recognized as the best in the former Soviet Union. They were featured in Jewellery exhibitions in France, Italy, and Germany. At the time, a Soviet designer’s work exhibited outside of the USSR was almost unheard of. He often had special orders from notable persons including famous opera singers, fashion designers, and figure skaters.

At this point in time, antisemitism was rampant in the Moscow region and Dvorkin was wrongfully accused and arrested for stealing gold from the Bronnitsy jewellery corporation. He was sentenced to seven years in prison in 1983. Upon being released almost six years later, Dvorkin decided to immigrate to Israel. From 1991 to 2011, Dvorkin would create the majority of his surviving work, including more than 2000 pieces he painted for exhibition by fellow Israeli artist, Oz Almog. Dvorkin painted until he could no longer hold a paintbrush, and passed away from lung cancer on May 14th, 2011.