Victor Bakhtin

Victor Bakhtin has been interested in nature and the arts since his childhood in eastern Russia. When a rock climbing accident curtailed a promising career as a concert violinist, he turned to the graphic arts. Victor's love of nature took him on many scientific expeditions in Siberia, and on one of these he met George Archibald, director of the International Crane Foundation (ICF) in Baraboo, Wisconsin. Since 1994, Victor has produced many works in support of ICF's world-wide conservation activities. Respect for Victor's talent continues to grow, and his paintings are now held by museums and collectors throughout the world.

Victor's work combines realistic detail with powerful vision. Victor says, "For me, no fantasy is comparable with the beauty of nature." When he came to America, he fell in love in particular with its expansive prairies. His most recent painting, Sauk Prairie Remembered: A Vision for the Future, captures this appreciation. "No place in Wisconsin can you see a prairie that large," Victor notes. "There are only remnants." With his vision, the prairie comes alive again.

Victor's original painting is at the gallery of the International Crane Foundation, E-11376 Shady Lane Road (5 miles north of Baraboo, off Highway 12), through September. It is part of the show, "Rebirth of the Prairie", by the WI Academy of Science, Art, & Letters.