Boris Chetkov was born in 1926 in the city of Novaya Lyalya in the Sverdlovsk Region of Russia. In 1959, he graduated from Sverdlovsk Secondary Art School after having studied in the studio of the highly acclaimed artist Vladimir Shmelyov. 

In 1966, Chetkov graduated from the famous art school named after Mukhina and began his professional career as a senior artist at the Malaya Vishera Glass Plant. Boris immersed himself into art with an ardent desire to deepen his understanding of the existing techniques of art to use as a foundation for creating new techniques. 

Boris Chetkov is known for his vivid works which range across genres but can be loosely aligned with Expressionism, Abstract Expressionism and Figurative Expressionism. His theories on art and use of colour also align him with Modernism and Kandinsky though in his painting he worked largely in isolation from his peers and remained disconnected from the international art community. At the beginning of the 1970’s Boris Chetkov belonged to the avant-guard trend in painting, simultaneously working with different art materials such as wood, stone, metal, ceramics, porcelain and glass. His work was both experimental and “cutting edge”. Even though it was the soviet period, his work was considered so extraordinary that he became a member of the Leningrad branch of the Russian Federation Union of Artists. 

The artist actively participated in many of Russian, as well as international exhibitions. The variety of his outrageous talent was represented at many solo exhibitions around the world.

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS:

2015 Boris Chetkov: Portraits, A Hoffman Art Institute Exhibition, Broward College, Ft. Lauderdale FL, USA

2015 Boris Chetkov: Portraits, A Hoffman Art Institute Exhibition, Art Bastion, Miami FL, USA

2013 Re-Imagining Russia: Boris Chetkov Landscape & Genre Paintings, Retrospective Exhibition, Russian Art Week, London, the UK

2012 Boris Chetkov , Solo Exhibition, Howell Gallery/Hoffman Art, Oklahoma City OK, USA 

2010 (Presidential Residence). The last exhibition in Chetkov’s lifetime and the first solo exhibit presented at the Palace, St Petersburg, Russia 

2009 National Congress Palace at Konstantinovsky, St Petersburg, Russia 

2005 Solo Exhibition, Kwang Hwa Cultural Center, Hong Kong 

2003 Artists of the City Annual Exhibition, Manege, St Petersburg, Russia 

2002 The Union of Artists 70th Anniversary Exhibition, Manege, St. Petersburg, Russia 

2001 Forum Gallery St. Petersburg, Russia 

2000 Avant-garde Artists, Obvodny Gallery, St Petersburg, Russia 

1999 Fantasy and Reality, Schonbusch Castle, Ashaffenburg, Germany 

1998 Symbolism in the Real World, Museum Villa Schtuck, Munich, Germany 

1998 War and Peace, Schopenhauer Archive, Frankfurt, Germany 

1997 The Legendary Heritage, Musaus Anniversary Exhibition, Ehrenburg, Germany

1997 10th Anniversary Exhibition, Institut d’Études Supérieures des Arts, Paris, France 

1996 Annual Exhibition, Kassel Reserve, Kassel, Germany 

1995 Broman 200th Anniversary Exhibition, Rauma Art Museum, Rauma, Finland 

1995 Artist’s Vocation, Château de Rochegude Drôme, France 

1995 The Spiritual Heritage, Museum Schlob Ehrenburg, Coburg, Bavaria 

1994 Annual Exhibition, Manege, St Petersburg, Russia 

1994 125th Anniversary International Exhibition, Kunstlerhaus am Karlsplatz, Vienna, Austria 

1994 International Glass Artists Exhibition, Alborelli Gallery, Venice, Italy 

1993 Art of The New Epic, National Library, Berlin, Germany 

1993 Exhibition dedicated to 90th Anniversary of the Artist B. Smirnov, Manege, St Petersburg, Russia

1993 Boris Chetkov, Forum, St Petersburg, Russia

1993 Boris Chetkov, Center for Contemporary Art, Marseilles, France 

1991 Kustarnei on Liteini, Borei Gallery, St Petersburg, Russia 

1991 Annual Exhibition, Manege, St Petersburg, Russia 

1991 Invitational Exhibition, Museum of Contemporary Art, Saarijärven, Finland 

1991 Boris Chetkov, Museum of Finnish Glass, Saareyami, Finland 

1989 Paintings, Graphics, Glass, Five Angles, Leningrad, USSR

1989 Two Generations, Museum of Modern Art, Perth, Australia 

1985 Annual Exhibition, Manege, Leningrad, USSR

1983 Avant-garde Paintings, Kirov’s Palace, Leningrad, USSR 

1980 Boris Chetkov, Blue Reception Room of the Artists’ Union, Leningrad, USSR 

1979 Paintings, Graphics, Glass, House of Scientists, the Hermitage, Leningrad, USSR 

1978 5th International Exhibition of Contemporary Russian Painters, Vienna, AU, Munich, DE, Paris, FR

1975 World Exhibition, Sapporo, Japan 

1974 World Exhibition, Center of Modern Art, Osaka, Japan 

1973 Boris Chetkov, Coffeehouse, Summer Garden, The Hermitage, Leningrad, USSR 

1971 Art of the Avant-garde, Palace of the Youth, Leningrad, USSR 

1970 Avant-garde Paintings, Kirov’s Palace, Leningrad, USSR

Works were acquired by the State Russian Museum of St. Petersburg, by the State Hermitage Museum, by many art museums and galleries throughout Russia, and by various galleries in Europe, Asia and the United States. Chetkov's paintings and works remain in private collections in Russia, Italy, France, Austria, Germany, Finland, Australia, and the United States.