International Press

LIST OF ARTICLES PUBLISHED IN THE INTERNATiONAL PRESS SINCE 1988

2012

PAPAZU Monica, « Kunsten skal saettes i evangeliets tjeneste / Art at the service of the Gospel», in Kristeligt Dagblad, January 5, 2012. (A long and beautiful homage in Danish which presents Chepik’s life and work at large and ends with very moving words written by Romanian–born Danish writer and critic, a Christian orthodox, who did not personnally know Chepik : « I do not want to conceal that I write this article with pain. Europa lost one of its greatest artists- an artist who still had so much to give us- … What was given him to achieve will stay forever as an unforgettable testimony, a testimony of Christian faith as well as a testimony of what true Art is. »)

MONTMIRAIL Cécile, « Homme libre, Sergei Chepik est entré dans l’histoire de l’Art / A free man, Sergei Chepik has entered the history of Art », in Reconquête, January 2012, n°284, with a colour photo of Chepik at work on The Redemption, taken by Marie-Aude Albert, and a colour reproduction of the tondo of The Passion, 2004. ( A beautiful homage to Chepik with the following conclusion: « Chepik who loved to measure himself respectfully to the great masters of past centuries, such as Michel-Ange, Rembrandt or Velasquez, has now rejoined them in the pantheon of great artists who marked the history of Art. »)

VENNER Dominique, « Sergei Chepik », La NRH, January 2012, n°58, p. 8 (A short homage illustrated with a drawing taken from the White Guard series, in which the author underlines « the very dostoyevskian talent of the very great Russian painter».)

2011

Anonymus, « Skorbnoe soobshchenie iz Parizha/ Sad news from Paris », in Pulse UK, November 24, 2011, with a colour photo of Chepik in front of the tondo of The Passion, 2004, and three colour reproductions : The Public Life of Christ, 2004, Hoffmann’s Tales, 1989, Portrait of Lady Thatcher, 1993. (in Russian)

ALBERT Marie-Aude, « Sergei Chepik : La Garde Blanche de Mikhail Boulgakov/ The White Guard of Mikhail Bulgakov », in Reconquête, November 2011, n° 282, pp. 28-29, with three colour reproductions of drawings for the White Guard of Bulgakov. ( A long article written by Chepik’s wife one month before his death to present Chepik’s art book dedicated to Bulgakov’s novel The White Guard, in which she underlines that « Chepik does not like to think himself as an illustrator in the traditional sense, but as a re-creator of a work he has made his own and of which he has espoused the style that is at once classical and expressionist .» )

ALBERT Marie-Aude « Sergei Chepik : Epiphania », in Présent, April 23, 2011, p.4, with a reproduction of the invitation card (A simple reproduction of the press release written by Marie-Aude Albert to introduce Chepik’s exhibition of religious paintings at the Atrium exhibition room in Paris.)

CHARRIER Catherine, « Sergei Chepik », in La Nef, April 2011, n°225, with a colour reproduction of the tondo of The Passion, 2004. ( A report of Chepik’s exhibition Epiphania , held at the Atrium in Paris in which the author underlines : «  In a figurative style marked by abstraction, Chepik develops a impressive composition of colours which reminds of Mantegna and Greco. »)

LENSEL Pierre-Louis, « Peindre est une manière de prier / Painting is a way of praying », in Paris Notre-Dame, April 7, 2011, p. 8, with a photo of Chepik in front of Quo Vadis Domine, 2011. (An interview of Chepik about his exhibition Epiphania at the Atrium in Paris in which he says : « In our time marked by relativism and atheism, it is essential that some artists might exhibit on religious themes. It is even precious, because it has become so rare. It is also a way to be against the tide, out of season.»  « Painting after the Gospels is a way of praying, using the gifts that God offered me. »)

2008

CLUZEL Gabrielle, « Découvrir l’œuvre du peintre russe Sergei Chepik à la Catto Gallery de Londres/ Discovering the work of Russian born artist Sergei Chepik at the Catto Gallery in London », in Monde et Vie, June 28, 2008, p. 27, with a photo of Chepik at work on Russia Crucified taken by Marie-Aude Albert and the reproductions of Bal du Moulin Rouge, 2001, and Chimeras of Notre-Dame, 1992. ( An overall presentation from which we shall keep this interesting appreciation : « The very particular and immediately recognizable atmosphere of Chepik strikes the visitor : an almost irreal light in splendid landscapes, a universe of long and dry figures as if turned towards heavens, narrow faces, disturbingly expressive, as if tormented by some interior dilemma, even when at the Moulin Rouge or in the amphitheatre of Arles the feast beats full song… »)

FRIGERIO Luca, « Epifanie di speranza : Sergei Chepik in mostra al Centre Culturel/ Epiphanies of hope », in Avvenire, Chiesa di Milano, February 3, 2008, with a reproduction of the Bells, part of Russia Crucified (A short report in italian of the exhibition Epifania at the Centre Culturel Français de Milan : « Opere di sorprendente intensità, vibranti/ works of surprising intensity, vibrating works. »)

SANDERS Alain, «  Sergei Chepik : Epifania », in Présent, January 26, 2008, with a reproduction of the invitation card. ( A simple presentation using parts of the foreword written by Marie-Aude Albert in the exhibition catalogue)

BONAITI Sabrina, « Sergei Chepik, un visionario come El Greco / Sergei Chepik, a visionary artist as El Greco», in La Provincia di Lecco, January 22, 2008, p. 39, with a photo of Chepik at work and two reproductions of details from The Nativity and The Chimeras of Notre-Dame. (A long article about the exhibition Epifania, also retracing the artistic career of Chepik.)

2006

DARDYKINA Natalia, «  Golgofa russkogo xudozhnika/ The Golgotha of a Russian artist », in Moskovskij Komsomolec, April 11, 2006, with two photos of Chepik and a reproduction of his canvas At the Russian Bath, 1983. ( A long and very interesting overall interview in Russian of the artist who speaks about his meeting with Margaret Thatcher, about the commission of his paintings for St Paul’s Cathedral, about bullfight, about his career in the USSR and then in France, about the Moulin-Rouge, about Frienship and cooking….)

2005

BROWN Michelle, « Sergei Chepik at St Paul’s Cathedral », in Art & Christianity, October 2005, pp. 5-6, with an illustration of The Public Life of Our Lord hanging in the Cathedral. ( This article explains how the commission of these paintings for St Paul’s Cathedral occured, how they take place inside the building in accordance with the specific architecture of Wren, and finally describes each of the four paintings. Dr Brown underlines the harmony between the architecture of Wren and the paintings of Chepik : « Whatever one’s aesthetic response, these works with their subtle hues have helped to reconcile the monochrome austerity of the nave with Thornhill’s grisailles in the dome and the polychrome of mosaics. More importantly, they provide a new focus for prayer- in private devotions and liturgical contexts. They have introduced the reality of suffering, reconciliation and salvation into the reading of the cathedral, as you move from the life journey of the nave, to the sustenance of worship and communion beneath the dome and on the east end and the eternal celebration and thanksgiving of Creation. Chepik’s works, carefully designed to fill Wren’s blind stone frames, have helped to demonstrate contemporary art’s potential contribution to the building, and the value of such locations in stimulating new Christian creativity.») 

BUCKLER Philip, « The Chepik Paintings I am the Way, the Truth and the Life », in Dome, édition 43, pp. 28-31, with colour reproductions of the four paintings. ( An important general article of one of the Canons of St Paul’s who wished to invite contemporary art into the Cathedral and admires Chepik’s work. He recalls the genesis of this commission and comments on each painting. Godfrey Barker’s inaugural speech is given entirely. A referencial article. )

MIKHAILOVA Anna, «  Moi chuvstva v moix kartinax/ My feelings are in my paintings », Ladies’ info, March 21, 2005, with two colour details of The Passion. ( A fascinating interview of Chepik who recalls his artistic career at large, his difficulties when he settled in France. We shall keep in mind this declaration about his style : « I am a figurative painter. There are two ways to represent the world : the abstract one and the realistic one. Mine is the realistic. As one says, I draw what I see. I am a pessimistic person in terms of my artistic approach of the world. And though I also present light and bright works, my paintings are in general difficult. And why people are fond of them, I do not think about that. Themes come themselves to my mind and I cannot find peace until I have concretely made them become real.» Let us keep in mind too his own words about influences : « My particular style formed itself during a progressive evolution. In general such an evolution happens unconsciously and progressively. My Petrushka still shows the influence of Bosch and Filonov. With years passed, with one’s experience, one departs from one’s own processes and methods, and that allows to evolve without outside influence. » ) 

SANDERS Alain, « Quatre toiles géantes de Sergei Chepik / Four giant canvases by Sergei Chepik», in Présent, March 12, 2005, with a reproduction of The Resurrection. (A very short article, which evokes Greco in connexion with these canvases.)

HENSHER Philip, « Lacking in passion for the Christ », in The Mail on Sunday, January 30, 2005, p.83, with a reproduction of the sketch for The Resurrection. ( A critical article in which the author recognizes the strengh and the challenge of these four canvases, though he admits that he does not like them. However let us keep in mind this homage to Chepik: « Previous commissions of contemporary artists have tended to produce work that is metaphorical to the point of blandness- videos of divers, that sort of thing- but Chepik has done something very shocking : he has simply painted, on a very large scale, four scenes from the life of Jesus. »

LEITCH Luke, « Jesus and Mary as you have never seen them before », in Evening Standard, January 20, 2005, p. 18, with, alas, the colour reproductions of the sketches and not of the canvases themselves. ( An interesting article about the commission for St Paul’s in which the art critic quotes the opinion of Sandy Nairne, director of the National Portrait Gallery who underlines the audacity of Chepik: « These are very graphic, very expressive works… however you respond, you can’t shy away from them and I’m sure that it is what the artist wants, something very strong. Contemporary representation in literal form of scenes from the Bible is very difficult. Plenty of contemporary artists take on wider spiritual themes, but actually to take on scene from the Bible directly is not something most people want to do. There is bravery about making that direct depiction. » )

EZARD John, « Giant canvas : St Paul’s unveils new paintings », in The Guardian, January 25, 2005, with a colour reproduction on cover page of The Nativity. (A very short commentary quoting this appreciation of Chepik’s work by the Dean of St Paul’s : « I hope they will appeal to people who believe that we live in a pretty tormented world. »)

2004

YAKUNINA Elena, « Raspjatuju Rossiju ne ja pridumal/ Not I did invent Russia Crucified » in Russkaja Mysl’( La Pensée Russe), November 2004, n° 40, with a reproduction of Cirque Jaune (Yellow Circus),1989, and a photo of Chepik working on the etching of Golgotha taken by Marie-Aude Albert. ( An interesting interview in Russian in connexion with the retrospective exhibition of Chepik « Guerre et Paix/ War and Peace » at the Espace Pierre Cardin in Paris where La Russie Crucifiée/ Russia Crucified, 1999, was exhibited. Let us point out these artist’s words : « I am now working on the second version of Songe des Rois (The Dream of Kings), I have already painted the first version.I am now preparing many sketches. And now, when I have nearly achieved the composition, I suddenly realize that it is again about Russia.Though, at the starting point, I did not mean that at all. What can I do with that ? Artists are certainly people with a too much developped unconscious mind, and this unconscious mind breaks out always at the end of the day. But, if talking more seriously, I feel as always the weight of millions of corpses that the Soviet power put on my shoulders.I have been suffering until now for my country which has been devastated after the Revolution. Just open any book published before the Revolution, and you can only suffer, comparing what a powerful country Russia was then, and what a miserable one it has become after. I certainly would be happier if I could avoid painting these canvases. But it is not my fault. Not I did invent Russia Crucified.»)

CAMPBELL-JOHNSON Rachel, « Sacred, with a touch of the Gulag », in The Times, September 14, 2005, p. 18, with a reproduction of the Virgin and Child from The Nativity. ( An interesting article written after the journalist visited Chepik’s studio, and she quotes largely the artist’s words for ex : « I hope that the paintings will work like a prayer. They are meant to touch not only believers but those who don’t believe, to show them that, even without believing, the story of Christ can still be relevant in the modern world. » She quotes also this appreciation by Dr John Moses, the Dean of St Paul’s, who commissioned the canvases for St Paul’s : « Chepik’s work is a far cry from the Italian Renaissance. We chose it because it is dramatic, robust ; because it has great strength and demands attention. » )

2002

YAKUNINA Elena, « Spektakl’ v galeree/ Show at the gallery », in Russkaya Mysl’ (La Pensée Russe), March 2002, n°4400, with reproductions of the following works : Le Cirque jaune( Yellow Circus), 1989, La Gloire de Paris(The Glory of Paris), 1992 et Autoportrait au Moulin Rouge(Self-portrait at the Moulin Rouge) , 2001. (A very interesting interview of Chepik at the occasion of his exhibition Spectacles(Shows) at the Galerie Popoff in Paris : the artist speaks about his grand-father, his father and his mother , about his artistic formation in the USSR. We shall retain these words of the artist: « My truth is in my paintings. It does not mean that a Soviet painter must be sad, difficult. But he must make people think. After everything is said, we cannot forget that a hundred million of people were genocidered, that the Gulag was a reality, and this reality is present in my unconscious mind even when I paint the Venice Carnival. »)

2001

POSLELOVA Julia, « Russkaya zhivopis’ v stile kankana/ Russian painting in Cancan style », in NOMI, September 2001, with a photo of Chepik in his studio in front of Moulin Rouge, 2001, and a reproduction of the canvas Le Bal du Moulin Rouge, 2000. ( A very short and uninteresting report in Russian about the exhibition Moulin Rouge. )

CAPLAN Nina, « Chepik at the Moulin Rouge », Metro, September 25, 2001, with a colour reproduction of Un, Deux, Trois, 2000. (A short but fine report of the Chepik’s exhibition Moulin Rouge at Catto Gallery in Cork Street Gallery.)

HEMMING Sarah, « Chepik at the Moulin Rouge », The Express, September 12, 2001, with a small reproduction of French Cancan, 2000. (A very short report of the Chepik’s Moulin Rouge exhibition at Catto Gallery at Cork Street Gallery.)

2000

Anonymous, « Sergei Chepik », in Paris-Moscou-Vladivostok, October 2000, pp.56-57, with a reproduction of Smuta, 1999 and of the Portrait of Nureyev, 1993. ( Interview in French of the artist who remembers his western career from his first parisian impressions. Let us quote what he thinks about the evolution of Art in Russia in 2000 : « Terrifying things are now occuring. I cannot explain why it happens. But I have the feeling that the demand for freedom has been, in many cases, just a demand for freedom at any price, for freedom to do any rubbish, and that freedom led to anti-professionalism amongst artists. which dishonours them, when you know that they were duly formed to professionalism; I am afraid, that, as always, the Russians took from the West what is the less interesting, what is the most ordinary. Because, in the West, there are very few professionals amongst artists, and too many crooks. I could say the same about litterature, which seems to have lost any link with the Russian tradition … »)

BARKER Godfrey, Evening Standard, January 24, 2000, a short report on the Chepik’s Venice exhibition at the Catto Gallery, with a reproduction of Carnival in Venise, 1999.

1999

GREMAUD Pierre, « Golgotha à Gruyères : La Croix, cette ombre portée/ Golgotha in Gruyères : The Cross, this stretching shadow », in La Gruyère, April 17, 1999, p. 7, with a reproduction of Golgotha, 1996. ( The art critic admires the « prodigious » work, and the « splendid artistic craft » of Chepik: « What strikes first, it’s the gathered characters (men, women, children), theirs looks asking unbearable questions. Then only, you distinguish in the foreground the shadows. Those of the three crosses of the Golgotha. Those of the throws of the soldiers, as if echoing the sticks of the shepherds.Here in these shadows, you can see the death of the crucified. Here is all the tragic dimension of this extraordinary composition : Christ is invisible and suffers alone. With one only gesture of consolation : the mother, sitting, cherishes the shadow of her son’s head, a ridiculous but wonderful by tenderness gesture. »)

DURUSSEL Monique, « Le Golgotha du russe Sergeï Tchepik/ The Golgotha of Russian born artist Sergei Chepik », in La Liberté, April 16, 1999, with a reproduction of Golgotha, 1996. ( A short and beautiful article about the exhibition Golgotha at Château de Gruyères  with this headline: «  A proposition of a single painting and its preparative work on an universal theme : the crucifixion. The artist chose a psychological approach of the responsibility of the individual facing the violence of History. »)

SITNIKOV Nikita, « Golgofa Sergeja Chepika/ Sergei Chepik’s Golgotha », in London Courier, March 19, 1999, n° 97, with a photo of Chepik in front of Golgotha, 1996. ( A very short report in Russian about the exhibition Golgotha in London where the journalist quotes Chepik : « Each man has got his own Golgotha. I did not intend to paint a religious work. My canvas is a reflection about the versatility of crowds, about death and about forgiveness.»)

PHILLIPS Ian, « From Russia with ambition », in The Independant, March 9, 1999, with a colour reproduction of Golgotha, 1996. ( Reporting the exhibition Golgotha in London, the journalist recalls Chepik’s career and quotes this interesting impression of the artist at his return from Russia in 1995 where he made his first short stay after he left the Soviet Union in 1988: « I really had the feeling that my fatherland had been crucified by the terrible political, economic and social situation there » and also this other quotation about his own work : « Painting is a physical and intellectual necessity for me. I couldn’t not paint, even if nobody could see my work. »)

1998

ALBERT Marie-Aude, « Zhivopis’ Sergeja Chepika/ The painting of Sergei Chepik », Russkaja Mysl’ ( La Pensée Russe), March 5, 1998, n° 4212, with two reproductions : La Neige rouge(Red Snow), 1996 et Ivan-Dourak, 1995. ( A long article in Russian written by Chepik’s wife on the occasion of Chepik’s solo exhibition in London with this quotation of Chepik : « Cultural life in France reminds me of that in the USSR. César and Armand are brothers to our Vuchevich and Tomski < two official artists who received the Staline Price…>.»)

TALBOT Linda, « Sergei, hammer of the fickle… », in Ham & High, February 27, 1998, p. 28, with a photo of Chepik in front of Procession, 1995. (A good report of the exhibition at the Catto Gallery, with this quotation of Chepik commenting on his Procession: « This is a reflection on Russian emigrations, going nowhere, while looking for a Russia that doesn’t exist.»)

BARKER Godfrey, « Russian fury unleashed », in Evening Standard, February 23, 1998, with a detail of the canvas La Nef du Bonheur (Ship of Happiness), 1997. ( A very short report on Chepik’s exhibition at the Catto Gallery where the art critic sees in Chepik the ‘Solzhenitsyn of painting’. )

1997

SULLIVAN Joanne, « Sergei Chepik portrays the Human Condition », in Manhattan Arts International, Spring 1997, with a colour reproduction of Nostalgia, 1990. (An overall article which conclusion is interesting : « His ability to tap into the passion he feels about his life experiences and the injustices he confronted is part of the process that has made him into an extraordinary artist . »)

KLIMENTIEVA Viktoria, « Petrushka s grustnymi glazami/ Petrushka with sad eyes », in Parizhskie Vechera, February 1997, with three colour reproductions : detail of Self-Portrait with Chimeras, 1996, of Procession, 1995, and of the Chimeras of Notre-Dame, 1993. (A good overall article in Russian which brings nothing new but gives a just appreciation of Chepik’s originality : « What makes him different from so many other Russian painters is that he does not play on the political situation emphasizing the anti-sovietical criticism ; and that is because he is an artist carrying through his work an universal message. »)

SAVITSKYA Katia, « Sergei Chepik- dramaticheskij xudozhnik Rossii/ Sergei Chepik- Dramatical painter of Russia », in European Herald, January 1997, p. 11, with a photo of Chepik smoking and a reproduction of Procession, 1995. ( An overall article which brings nothing new but this quotation from Chepik « I remember that when I was looking for work in Leningrad, an artistical institution <Chepik means the Union of Artists> asked me what I was able to paint ; I answered : ‘anything but not political leaders’. ») 

1996

JAMES Nicolas, « Samyj ‘dorogoj’ i samyj zagadochnyj russkij xudozhnik segodnja/ The most expensive and the most mysterious Russian artist today», in London Courier, June 1996, n°36. ( A long interview in Russian of Chepik who talks about his formation, his themes, about Russia and so-called Contemporary Art in France : « France is like the USSR in which there were some official pillars supported by the soviet system, when other artists had no access to work, exhibitions or commissions. There is a great illusion about Paris. Many artists are the victims of that illusion. The best impressionnist painters are in Russia and in the USA. Same thing for Picasso. But this is an old story. Today girls from the Ministery of Culture decide who must be bought with public money and who must not be bought. This is the way the French Ministery of Culture answered me when I proposed my work :‘Your paintings do not fit with the policies of our ministery’. They even do not try to be polite. Everything is done here in France so that the true talented artists should be crushed, included those of the past.»)

Anonymous, « Dva vzgljada na Rudol’fa Nurieva/ Two looks on Nureyev », in London Courier, October 1996, n°44, with a reproduction of Portrait of Nureyev, 1991-1993 by Chepik. (In this interview in Russian, Chepik in a fascinating way evokes his meeting with Nureyev and his memories about the great Russian dancer.)

1995

FENEON Gérard, « Ce génie russe dont la muse est de Metz ! / This Russian genius whose muse was born in Metz», in Le Républicain Lorrain, August 27, 1995, with a photo of the artist with his wife Marie-Aude Albert in his Montmartre studio. ( An important article recalling the rather extraordinary course of Chepik in which the journalist reads very clearly the strong personnality of the Russian artist : « Chepik, to speak truly, is not a fashionable man. He is a tormented soul whose angular painting may hurt the eye of other people.Life is not a long quiet river and that man knows about it.He is himself a sort of silent torrent, locked alone in his studio to work eight hours a day, bringing with eagerness on to his canvases the universal tragedies.»)

PHILLIPS Ian, « A brush with the French establishment », in The European, January 6-12, 1995. (A fascinating interview of Chepik who speaks without any set language about contemporary art in the West, about the « cultural Chernobyl » in the West.)

1994

RUSSELL TAYLOR John, «  Slav on the boulevard », The Times, December 14, 1994. ( A report of Chepik’s solo exhibition at the Roy Miles Gallery, with a reproduction of Trocadero, 1993, where the famous art critic underlines that Parisian lanscapes are painted in a Russian style, and recognizes Chepik’s talent : « Chepik is clearly one of the best completely traditional painters now working. He is a superb technician with an instantly recognisable personal mark. Hi is one of those artists who create their own world and carry it round with them, living in it like a snail in its shell. »)

CORBIN Simon, « Sergei Chepik », in What’s on, December 1994, p. 19. (A short report of Chepik’s solo exhibition at Roy Miles Gallery, with the reproduction of a detail from Loneliness, 1993, in which the art critic underlines : « He displays a consummate understanding of the Old Master’ laws of composition- and uses those laws to dramatic effect. Yet he can be avant garde and fragment his canvases like a Cubist whenever he finds it necessary… Chepik is set to become a major painter of our time. »)

DUTT Robin, « For art’s sake : Robin Dutt canvasses the winter gallery scene », in B, December 1994, p. 41. (A report of various 1994 December exhibitions in London in which the art critic underlines the immediately recognizable style of Chepik : « a mixture of stony dry hues and burst of powdery colour.)

PACKER William, « Focus on the figure », in Financial Times, December 13, 1994, p.15. (An interesting reflection about the place of figurative art on the art market today with this appreciation on Chepik : « Chepik is prepared to work on an epic scale, and with epic themes, composing and ordering them with remarkable vigour and invention. », though the critic reproaches to Chepik some exaggeration and too much symbolism in his art.)

1993

BLUNDALL John, « Sergei Chepik- Russian painter extraordinary », in British Unima Bulletin n° 84, November 1993. ( A short general presentation of Chepik in which the author, a professionnal puppeteer, lays emphasis on the attachment of Chepik for Petrushka and the tradition of Russian street theater, the balagan.)

PHILLIPS Ian, « From Perestroika to Paris », Boulevard, July-August 1993, with two colour reproductions : Portrait of Nureyev, 1993 and Troïka, 1991. (An excellent synthesis about Chepik’s artistic course with this quotation from Alexis de Tiesenhausen, expert at Christie’s : « He is really the only artist who has survived the fashion for Russian art that was at his height in London a few years ago. »)

LUCAS Magalie, « Les yeux ouverts / Opened eyes», in Demeures et Châteaux, June 1993, p. 29, with a colour reproduction of the cartoon for Le Bain / The Bath, 1991. ( A short report on the retrospective exhibition of Chepik at the Château de Croissy.)

MARKS Cathy, « Lady Thatcher as seen by an artist she admires », The Daily Telegraph, June 3, 1993, with a colour reproduction of the Portrait of Baroness Margaret Thatcher, 1993 cover page. ( A short article explaining what Chepik wanted to stress in this portrait which does not pretend to be a realistic photography of the former Prime minister : « A globe and Big Ben depict Lady Thatcher’s role in British and world affairs .»)

Anonymous, « L’Univers fantastique de Serguei Tchepik / The fantastic universe of Sergei Chepik», in Courrier des Yvelines, May 27, 1993, with a reproduction of Homage to Ingres’Odalisque, 1992. ( A short article about the Chepik’s retrospective exhibition at Château de Croissy from which we shall keep these words: « Discovering the paintings of Chepik is like penetrating inside the fantastical universe of an uprooted man, struggling with his own contradictions, in which references to Jérome Bosch can be seen, in which the misty veil of death is everywhere, as if he wanted to remind us that his homeland is deeply anchored in his heart and work ; a homeland he has been physically separated from but whose sufferings, joys, grandeur and fragility he goes on describing. »)

BARKER Godfrey, « From Russia with – shock », The Daily Telegraph, March 8, 1993, with a photo of Chepik. (After an interview with Chepik during his solo 1992 exhibition in London at the Roy Miles Gallery, the art critic gives us the very interesting impressions of the Russian artist on Western Contemporary art : « I was shocked by the lack of culture of these painters, as if they did not know there were great masters in the past ; I was struck by the lack of professionalism in technique, and then, I did not know what they were talking about ; so, I asked : is it worth knowing ? I formed the impression that most were charlatans. »)

LEES Caroline, « From Iron Curtain to Iron Lady », The Sunday Times, March 7, 1993, with a colour reproduction of Self-Portrait with Petrushka, 1992. ( An excellent synthesis on Chepik’s artistic career with this relevant analysis of the self-portrait: « The painting stands as a statement about Chepik’s sense of himself as an artist- an observer, watching and commentating through his work at a chaotic world.»)

GORVY Brett, « From Russia With Loathing », The Antique Collector, March 1993, with a reproduction of The Bath or First Circle, 1992. ( A very short and negative article written by a critic who does not like Dostoyevsky and compares Chepik with… Dostoyevsky…)

1992

BARKER Godfrey, « The train from Delhi to Tokyo », in The Daily Telegraph, July 13, 1992. (A short article on the art market in London illustrated a quarter of a page with Chepiks’s painting The Bath, 1992, about whom the art critic writes : « Sergei Chepik is the Leningrad artist who in the 1980s scaled the Solzhenitsyn’s heights of tragedy under Communism with his House of the Dead series. ») 

BARKER Godfrey, « The Years of painting dangerously », in The Daily Telegraph, June 1^{st ,} 1992, p. 16. (An interesting article in which the art critic wonders why, but Chepik, so few powerful paintings were painted by Soviet dissidents : « Of the thousands of Soviet pictures to reach London in the past five years, only those of Sergei Chepik, to my eye, bring any of the imaginative intensity one looks for in the greatest subject to challenge the artist in this century as well as a technical mastery. (…) too many of his dissident rivals seem either to have been cowards (relatively) or to have made themselves comfortable. »)

1991

BARKER Godfrey, « God is high and the Tsar is very far », The Daily Telegraph, June 17, 1991, p. 14. (A very short article on the Russian art market in London illustrated with a reproduction of Chepik’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, 1990, who, according to the art critic,« alone manages to convey the tragic complexity of the Russian experience .»)

A Midsummer Night’s Dream, 1990, on the cover of the review Soviet Weekly , June 6, 1991, with a long article on Roy Miles and the Russian art market in the West.

1990

KRIVOPALOV, A. , « Neizvestnyj genij iz Rossii/ An unknown Russian genius… », in Izvestija, November 4, 1990. ( A very good article written by the Russian correspondent in London of the soviet newspaper Izvestia à Londres after the unbelievable success of the first retrospective of Russian-born artist Chepik at the Roy Miles Gallery. The journalist quotes the artist he met in London and regrets that Russia missed this immense artist who was scorned in his fatherland.)

FARSON Daniel, « Satire : Chepik », in The Mail, October 28, 1990, with a photo of Chepik. ( A report on Chepik’s retrospective at Roy Miles Gallery in which the author emphasizes «  an undercurrent of traditional and subversive work » with the existence of which he was not aware in the USSR. )

HARCOURT-WEBSTER Sarah, « Buying Chepik while still cheap ? » , in Antiques Trade Gazette, October 20, 1990, p. 46 with a reproduction of The Self-Portrait with Petrushka, 1989. (A short report of the Chepik’s 1990 retrospective at the Roy Miles Gallery in London.)

BARKER Godfrey, a few words in the Daily Telegraph, October 19, 1990, under the photo on cover page of Chepik with Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, receiving the Russian artist at the House of Commons.

Anonymous, « The Madhouse, 1988 », in BMJ, volume 301, with a colour illustration of The House of the Dead, 1988. (A very short article presenting the artist and his canvas elected as « classic of the decade » )

BARKER Godfrey, « An unknown Russian genius comes to light », in The Daily Telegraph, October 8, 1990, p. 14, with two illustrations : a detail from The Station, 1990 and Golgotha, 1989. ( A highly praising article, even dithyrambic one, signed by a famous art critic in London, who revealed Chepik to the British public with this title : « Nothing so torrential in its passion has been seen in the West in four decades ».)

1988

FENEON Gérard, « La génération Gorbatchev : Les confidences d’un Pierrot crucifié / Generation Gorbachev : The Confessions of a crucified Pierrot», in Le Républicain Lorrain,

November 27 novembre, 1988, p. 3, with a reproduction of Indoor Family Portrait, 1987. ( Excellent article written by a talentuous great journalist after an interview with Chepik whom he quotes largely; it is also the very first article in French written on Chepik four months after his arrival in France. Let us remember Chepik’s first impressions : « Since my arrival in France, I have the feeling that I got rid of a heavy weight. In Russia I felt like an artist-serf.. Paris is really the ideal capital city for an artist. But I must confess a certain deception : in all the galleries that I visited, I never heard the word « art ». I heard of « quotations » and of different things which do not exist in the USSR. In France, when you show your work to a gallery owner, he wants at once to put a label on it. I consider that negative and frightening, as if these people wanted to lock me into a box with a label on it. I did not expect that.»)