Did you know that there is an artist who can produce paintings that are difficult to distinguish from camera results? Russia Beyond presents the best work of Alexei Butirskiy, one of Russia’s masters of hyper-realism.

Moscow hyper-realist painter Alexei Butirskiy is in the elite ranks of modern Russian artists. His works have become an inseparable part of many galleries and private collections in France, Britain, Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Canada, and the United States.

Butirskiy’s favorite theme is the view of the city: life in big cities and residents, roads at night covered with snow or heavy rain.

Moscow is Alexei’s favorite object, but he also doesn’t forget other cities. His paintings also show night views of Prague, Venice, and Amsterdam.

The image of the city in Butirskiy’s paintings is always portrayed in the evenings or at night because only then is the life of the city appearing after it was filled with people. This winter city view gives a nice and warm impression. Even though the night is cold and there are layers of thick snow on the tile, one can see the lights in each flat. There is life there.

Butirskiy likes to describe cafes in the city and its customers. Here, the artist is also not free from his distinctive style: the streets are calm and peaceful; some visitors sit in a cafe shortly before closing. No excitement, only peace.

Alexei doesn’t like to copy the original place. Cameras can do this, and this doesn’t require artists. The most important element, he said, is remembering the original impressions of a place and changing it in the brain. Then, the artist expresses his feelings to paintings and also to people.

Alexei’s greatest source of inspiration is life itself. “I found calm and harmony around me,” he said.

Russian art critics say the variations in light, luminescence quality and darkness found in Butirskiy’s paintings remind us of works by Caravaggio and Claude de Lorraine.

Many Alexei paintings depict heavy rain in the city. He said that the art of painting and its variation itself was amazing. He was sure, and there was no bad weather to describe.