“I started drawing before I spoke. At the moment I am painting realistic paintings in oils using glaze techniques. For me, the clarity and truthfulness of the image in a painting is the pinnacle of skill.

– Tanya Shark

Russian-born artist Tanya Shark, currently based in Portugal, possesses a lifelong dedication to the visual arts. This early passion led her to graduate from art school as a child, setting the foundation for a career defined by technical precision and historical reverence.

Shark’s work is deeply rooted in tradition; she fulfilled a long-held dream by graduating from the Zhostovo National School of Painting, where she mastered the intricate, old Russian style of decorative painting. While her education includes diverse explorations in pastels and watercolors, her primary focus has evolved into layered, realistic oil painting. Utilizing sophisticated glaze techniques, Shark strives for a level of clarity and truthfulness that she considers the pinnacle of artistic skill.

Her aesthetic is heavily influenced by the masters of realism and still life, drawing inspiration from the meticulous works of Jan Davids de Heem, Georg Jacob Johann van Os, and Vasily Vasilyevich Vereshchagin. This commitment to realism has earned her a place in private collections across the globe, including France, Switzerland, Germany, Spain, and the UK. 

Now, her work will be featured in ART WORLD MARBELLA 2026.