Victor Orly

Victor Orly (born 20 February 1962) is a contemporary Ukrainian-born French painter, one of the major representatives of a new-age impressionism, the president of cultural and art association Capitale, a member of Guangdong Yuehua Painting Academy, Guangzhou, China.

Orly was born Guennadi Grebniov in Kirovohrad, Ukrainian SSR, USSR (present day Kropyvnytskyi in Ukraine) in 1962.

He graduated from Kirovohrad arts school and A.Pushkin Kirovohrad Pedagogical Institute.

His professional artistic activity started in 1993.

In this period he created several philosophical symbolic series of works that were influenced by Mikhail Vrubel, a pioneer of the Russian Symbolist movement, and Nicholas Roerich, a Russian artist and philosopher.

In the mid-90s he collaborated with the writers, editors, such as Volodymyr Panchenko, a famous literary scholar, professor of the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy and Leonid Kutsenko, a regional ethnographer, professor of the Volodymyr Vynnychenko Kirovohrad State Pedagogical University.

The artist worked on the design and artistic finish of the literary magazine "Vezha (The Tower)" and several ethnographic and literary books.

In 1996 Grebniov participated in the contest of the project of a great coat of arms of Ukraine.

Becoming a professional painter, working on his artistic style, Gennadi Grebniov was highly influenced by Sergiy Shapovalov, Merited Artist of Ukraine, whom Guennadi Grebniov calls his main teacher.

He considers Claude Monet, Vincent van Gogh and Pablo Picasso to be his spiritual mentors.

He has been living and working in France since 2004.

He started to draw in a very young age.

When he was 3, he drew his first paintings on the back of two family portraits.

In his school years the artist was an author and editor of satirical comics that were broadcast in a local cinema.

He was awarded a grand prize in the regional contest of a political poster.

In 2004 the artist moved to France.

He began to use the pseudonym Victor Orly.

In France he receives new sources for his art development.

In a short time he creates several new series of works, participates in numerous prestigious exhibitions in France, Canada, Ukraine, China.

In 2008 Orly was invited as a President of the jury for the art contest in Nans-les-Pins, France.

Orly realised a project "My trace on the planet" in terms of the international campaign "Marseille, European Capital of Culture".

As a result, a beautiful panel painting sized 500 x 400 cm was created.

In 2013 Victor Orly becomes a member of Guangdong Yuehua Painting Academy, Guangzhou, China.

Victor ORLY practices different genres of painting: still life, landscape, romantic and symbolic figurative painting.

Distinguishing characteristics of his works are dashing creative ideas, highly original style, combination of real and fantastic, bright colour palette.

Peculiar feature of the painter's art is an experiment with composition, colour, technique.

Victor ORLY has worked out his own style which is based on a combination of classical, symbolic and impressionistic painting elements.

The artist practices oil painting and uses palette knife technique.

Original compositional findings, rich colour palette, vague details are characteristic of his art.

His brush strokes are broad and energetic, often massive, always loose, sometimes translucent, and full of emotions and feelings.

In China Victor ORLY is compared to kung fu master Li Xunhuan for his work with a palette knife.

Orly also practices other forms of fine arts.

He is an author of decorative panel paintings, wall paintings, and ceramic goods.

The artist created wall paintings for a Ukrainian restaurant "Korchma" (Marseille, France) and numerous private villas on French Riviera, restored and created wall paintings in the Virgin Mary Bell-tower of the Holy Trinity Cathedral (Marseille).

Main theme of Orly's artworks in the recent years is Provence where he lives now.

His landscapes, still-lives, figurative paintings depict the splendour of pristine Provence nature and beauty of ancient human creations.

Victor ORLY is named an honorary ambassador of Provence for his special attention to this region and fine sense of its spirit.

Most of Victor Orly's landscapes are dedicated to water: a sea, a river, a lake, a pool, an aquarium, a rain.

Main objects are large lengths of seas, bays, ports, classical and modern sailing ships, lotus, water-lilies, and sun reflections.

Victor Orly uses his bold and broad brushstrokes to give a feeling of live reality to water and vibrations to reflexes.