Sonia Grineva was born in Moscow, Russia, and received her B.A. and M.F.A. degrees from the Stroganov Art Institute, Moscow’s leading art school, whose faculty has included such figures Kandinsky, Malevich and Rodchenko, among others.
Upon coming to the United States at the age of 20, she continued her studies at the National Academy of Design in Manhattan, where she was awarded a prestigious traveling scholarship granting her the opportunity to study in Florence, Italy at the British Institute.
Sonia has traveled extensively, and works on location in the tradition of many plein air artists. Her travels have taken her to many parts of the US, including New England, the South and California. She has also travelled widely in Europe and has made paintings of some of the continent’s most impressive landscapes and city scenes, including those in and around Venice, La Rochelle, Monte Carlo, Dieppe, and Prague.
In the past few years Sonia has spent a significant amount of time painting in Italy, and has created landscapes that range from the olive groves of Puglia to the snowcapped peaks of Alto Adige. She draws deep inspiration from Italian history and culture, as well as from the thousands of years of artistic expression that are present in the country’s architecture, paintings, sculpture and human landscapes.
Sonia has received many distinguished awards and recognitions for her work.
Ms. Grineva has gained an international reputation for her oil and watercolor landscapes and abstract paintings, and is well known and appreciated in New York for her Manhattan cityscapes. In addition, she is adept at a variety of mediums, including printmaking and sculpture. Her work can be seen in galleries in New York, New England, Washington and Georgia, Europe and in numerous private, public, and museum collections.
She maintains an art studio on Union Square in New York City.