Olga Grigorieva-Klimova. Painting Begins with Seeing

A turning point came with an almost accidental visit to an art college. The idea came from her yoga teacher, who had once studied painting herself. The atmosphere of the studios, the students completely absorbed in their work, the sense of creative freedom and even the smell of oil paint that greeted her at the entrance — all of it opened up an entirely new world. After that visit, the choice of profession was largely made.

Over time, this became fundamental to her approach to painting. Olga tries to take in the subject as a whole rather than isolating a single object or colour. One hue changes beside another, light brings the space together, reflected colours appear — and all of these relationships exist simultaneously. Olga compares colour relationships to music. For her, an individual colour is like a single note: it acquires its meaning through its relationship with the others. 

People have always been one of Olga’s central subjects. Portraits, images of children, multi-figure compositions and scenes by the sea allow her to observe not only appearance, but also character, mood and movement. Working with a model is also a form of communication. Each person brings a different presence to a painting, so a solution found once cannot simply be repeated in the next portrait. As the model changes, so does the painting itself.

Olga’s understanding of colour was shaped to a great extent by Crimea. Southern light and constant work from life taught her to see colour as something living and continually changing. Her encounter with the work of Fyodor Zakharov, Valentin Bernadsky and Pyotr Stolyarenko was also important in shaping her outlook.

Valentin Serov holds a special place among the artists she feels closest to: Olga is drawn to the way his freedom of painterly expression is combined with precision of observation and a profound interest in people. In Nikolai Fechin, she values the strength of his drawing, the energy of the painted surface and his attention to the human figure; in Joaquín Sorolla, it is the light, air and sun-filled subjects, so naturally attuned to the character of southern painting.

Olga rarely decides on a subject in advance. What matters more is whatever has caught her eye — an unusual combination of colours, a person, light on the water, a bouquet or a few objects on a table. Painting begins with the desire to preserve that impression.

Olga’s palette has developed gradually and continues to change alongside her painting. Some colours appear in response to a particular task or period of work, others gradually disappear, while certain paints remain on her palette for years. 

Olga has worked with Master Class oil colours for many years. At the heart of her palette are rich cadmiums, natural earths, deep blues and a wide range of greens. Alongside them are quinacridones, ultramarines, Indanthrene Blue, Caput Mortuum Deep, Lori Violet-Grey and other complex colours. Her palette remains fluid: she is constantly trying new shades and introducing them whenever a particular painting calls for them. 

For Olga, what matters is not the beauty of an individual colour in isolation, but how it works alongside the others. Rich, clean hues therefore sit beside complex earth colours and more muted tones, allowing her to build subtle colour relationships and convey the light, air and atmosphere of the subject. 

When Olga speaks about artistic skill, she always returns to the ability to see. This is why she advises young artists to work from life as much as possible, to develop their powers of observation and not to replace direct experience with photography. 

Persistence is equally important to her. A good painting does not always emerge at the first attempt: it may need to be repainted, corrected and reconsidered, and sometimes even a successful passage has to be sacrificed if it disrupts the painting as a whole.

For Olga, painting is a continuous practice of working and observing. It is through this daily process that both skill and the ability to see the world more deeply, more precisely and with greater curiosity gradually develop.