Leonid Afremov

Palette knife cities that feel wet with color and memory

Leonid Afremov paints like a celebration of color, every canvas a bright, wet song.

Leonid Afremov at a glance

Born: July 12, 1955, Vitebsk, Belarus
Died: August 19, 2019, Playa del Carmen, Mexico
Known for: Vivid palette knife cityscapes and parks that seem wet with color
Medium: Thick oil paint applied with a palette knife
Training: Vitebsk Art School (1978) and private lessons with a local artist
Lived in: Belarus, Israel, the United States and Mexico
Official website: afremov.com

Born July 12, 1955 in Vitebsk, Belarus, he grew up in a family of makers and learned to see pattern and craft early.

His signature is the palette knife and thick oil, applied in mosaic like strokes that shimmer and merge at a glance.

Leonid Afremov Painting

Afremov’s cityscapes and parks feel alive with reflection, like memory seen through rain on cobblestones.

He mixes detail and suggestion, so a lamppost or a couple walking becomes both specific and universal.

Training and early influences included Dali, Picasso, Modigliani and Chagall, artists who opened his imagination.

Life pushed him across borders, from Belarus to Israel and later to the United States, each move changing his audience and his fortunes.

Struggles with galleries led his sons to sell his work online, and eBay turned his paintings into a global phenomenon.

Later he settled in Mexico, painting quietly while his family ran the business and his colors reached collectors worldwide.

Afremov made joy out of paint and light, and his canvases still invite you to walk into their streets.

“Louis Armstrong Music” by Leonid Afremov: a jazz trumpeter mid-note, painted in hot oranges and reds with dense palette-knife strokes.
A bouquet of poppies and wildflowers in a vase, rendered in thick, jewel-toned strokes.
A pianist swept up in the music, the keys and the figure dissolving into streaks of color.
A performer with arms flung wide, caught in a storm of blue and red strokes.
“Legendary Ray Charles” by Leonid Afremov: a pianist in profile at the keyboard, framed by a mosaic of bright color.
A cellist drawing the bow across her instrument, surrounded by swirling red, orange and blue.
A couple sharing an umbrella under a glowing lamppost on a rain-soaked autumn path, with reflections on the wet pavement.
A dancer in flowing, flame-colored strokes with her arms lifted.
A couple embracing under an umbrella beside a lamppost, the wet path glowing in autumn light.
A pianist leaning back over the keys with her face tilted up, wrapped in rushing bands of color.
A lone walker on a misty park path beneath orange and red autumn trees.
Two girls in summer dresses playing in a flower-filled meadow of yellow and green.
A woman with a red umbrella walking through a green and gold park after rain.
A rainy European-style street at dusk, with lit windows and a parked car shining on wet cobblestones.
A figure in sunglasses and a pale jacket, built from small crystalline strokes of blue, orange and violet.
A row of golden autumn trees along a wet road, with small figures and a cool lilac distance.
A guitarist in a brimmed hat playing an electric guitar, in warm oranges and creams.
“John Lennon (Studio Version)” by Leonid Afremov: a bespectacled, long-haired musician holding an acoustic guitar against a confetti of warm color.
A rain-soaked city street at night with bare trees and glowing cafe windows.
A pair of ballroom dancers whirling in a billowing pink and white gown.
A guitarist in a wide-brimmed hat bent over his instrument, in deep blues and fiery oranges.
A ballerina in a white tutu poised on tiptoe in a swirl of autumn color.
A guitarist in a medallion necklace and open jacket, strumming against a mosaic of warm strokes.
A lone figure far down a rain-slicked avenue lined with tall autumn trees, red and green leaves overhead.
A guitarist with a headband playing an electric guitar, in oranges and blues.
“Stevie Ray Vaughan 2” by Leonid Afremov: a guitarist in a wide-brimmed hat and white shirt, face lifted mid-song, in blues, creams and warm oranges.
A headband-wearing guitarist in profile, eyes closed as he plays, in glowing oranges and blues.
A vase of orange and purple flowers in thick, bright strokes.
A woman with a red umbrella crossing a city street at night, lights streaking across the wet ground.
A vase of white daisies against deep blue, in thick palette-knife strokes.