Viviene Astakhova
Fine Watercolor Artist.
BACKGROUND
Viviene Astakhova is a visual artist with a formal architectural background, working primarily in watercolor and ink. Originally from St. Petersburg, she is now based in Vienna, where her current body of work explores the city's classical façades, interiors, and atmospheres of light.
Her artistic education began in 2006 at the Artistic and Aesthetic Lyceum of the Stieglitz Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg, where she developed an academic foundation in drawing, painting, composition, architectural design, and art history. In 2010, she was admitted to the Faculty of Architecture at the Saint Petersburg State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering, completing her architectural studies in 2012. She later pursued a Master's degree in Journalism and Communication, which she completed in 2015.
Site-specific studies and artistic research trips form an essential part of her practice. Her travels — including Morocco, Nepal, Provence, Georgia, Israel, the Dolomites, the United Arab Emirates, Singapore, Hong Kong, Macau, and Tuscany — inform a body of work that moves between architectural watercolors of European cities, alpine landscapes, and abstract compositions.
ARTISTIC APPROACH
Working at the intersection of painting and architectural drawing, Viviene combines transparent watercolor layers with refined ink lines. Deeply influenced by classical European architecture, she approaches the city not as a static monument but as a living surface shaped by light, shadow, and memory. Her work explores the quiet dialogue between nature and human creation, between structure and atmosphere. Light plays a central role in her practice: it cannot be held, only perceived through the shadows it casts and the forms it reveals.
Vienna, where she now lives and works, is at the centre of her current focus. "Vienna once conquered my heart and has never let it go," she writes. "In its façades, interiors, and atmospheres of light, I continually discover new stories of time, culture, and human creativity."
MATERIALS AND PROCESS
Viviene works exclusively with natural pigments, building layered compositions on 100% cotton paper. The paper allows light to emerge gradually through the surface; the natural pigments yield an authentic and nuanced colour rendering that synthetic colours cannot achieve. Each piece balances the precision of refined ink linework with the atmospheric fluidity of transparent watercolour.
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
2026
The Light of the City — Solo exhibition, Galerie Schwanzer, Vienna, Austria
Echoes of Memory — Galerie La Divina, Vienna, Austria
CITYgalleryVIENNA by publicartists, Vienna, Austria
Christmas Stories — Novosibirsk State University of Architecture, Russia
2025
Concert — Novosibirsk State University of Architecture, Russia
Seasons — Dom Da Vinci Art Center, Novosibirsk, Russia
2024
Around the World — Novosibirsk State University of Architecture, Russia
The Most Important — Dom Da Vinci Art Center, Novosibirsk, Russia
2023
Dedicated to Love — Solo exhibition, Moscow, Russia
Watercolor Weekend — State Regional Scientific Library, Dom Da Vinci, Novosibirsk, Russia
2022
Russian Art Prize Exhibition — New Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, Russia
2021
Aquarelium — Saint Petersburg Union of Artists, Russia
2020
Saint Petersburg Union of Artists, Russia
World of Amazonia — Gallery "Private Collection", Novosibirsk, Russia
Russian Academy of Sciences, Akademgorodok, Novosibirsk, Russia
2019
NewArtFest — Sochi, Russia
2015
Art Shopping — Carrousel du Louvre, Paris, France
Brilliant Art — Central House of Artists, Moscow, Russia
AFFILIATIONS
Member of the Salzburger Kunstverein (since 2024)
Member of the Siberian Watercolour Artists Association (since 2020)
Selected Commissions
Architectural illustration and interior concept for an adaptive reuse project in Reichenau an der Rax, Austria (2025) — a full visualisation series for the conversion of a former school building.
Studio
Viviene's studio is in Vienna. Works are available through her originals collection, as limited-edition giclée prints, or by commission. Selected works are also represented on Saatchi Art. For exhibition inquiries, press, or representation, contact hello@vivieneastakhova.com.