Natalia Nesterova

Nesterova was born on April 23, 1944, in Moscow. Her parents Igor Smirnov and Zoya Nesterova were architects. Her first exhibition was with a young artists' group in 1966. She graduated from the Surikov Art Institute in 1968, after which she became a professor at the Russian Academy of Theatre Arts. In 1969, she became a member of the Artists' Union of the USSR. Nesterova's first solo exhibition was held at the Artists' House on Kuznetsky Bridge in 1974. After traveling to New York City for an exhibition at the Hal Bromm Gallery in 1988, she spent much of her life between Russia and the United States. Her first exhibition in Chicago occurred in 1991, followed by an exhibition in Madrid in 1992. During her career, she received the Russian National Award in Fine Art and was named an academician with the Russian Academy of Fine Arts, among other honors. She had one son, Lev. She also cared for her grandson, David Nesterov-Rappoport. Fearing retaliation from the Russian government due to her criticism of the invasion of Ukraine, Nesterova settled in the United States in 2022. She died on August 10, 2022, in New York.

• 1990: Recent works from Moscow». Hal Bromm Gallery, New York • 1992: Retrospective. Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal • 2002: Russian Wanderings. Traveling exhibition. Lehman College Art Gallery, New York (cat). 2004: Natalya Nesterova. Reflections of Time Past. State Russian Museum. St. Peterburg (monograph). • 2005: Summer Impressions. The National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, DC. • 2023: Counterpoint. Hal Bromm Gallery, New York • 2024: The Creative Journey. Selections from the Kolodzei Art Foundation. The Harriman Institute, International Affairs Building, Columbia University, NYC

• 2005: Russia! Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York (cat.)