Vlad (Milan) Duchev
Born in 1965 in Pokrov (Ordzhonikidze), Ukraine.
Resides and works in Baltimore, MD, USA.

Education:
1973 Art School, Bila Tserkva, Ukraine
1984 Music College, Zhytomyr, Ukraine
1988 Kharkiv Institute of Art, Kharkiv, Ukraine
1990 National Conservatory of Ukraine, Kyiv, Ukraine

Recognitions & Exhibitions:
Cape Ann Plein Air - 3rd Place
Plein Air Smokies - Best Water Award
Easton Plein Air - Alumni
Oil Painters of America, National Exhibition & Convention
AIS National Exhibition & Show
ASMA National Exhibition
Paint Annapolis - 1st Place Nocturne, 3rd Place Bay Ridge
Paint Grand Traverse - Merit Award and Recognition Award
RI Watercolor Association - Juror/Judge
Rockport Art Association & Museum National Show - Juror
Cape Ann Plein Air - Best Nocturne Award
Smokies Plein Air
Door County Plein Air Invitational
Plein Air Easton - Best Nocturne Award
Paint Grand Traverse - Artist Choice Award and Merit Award
Paint Annapolis - 1st Place Nocturne, 1st Place Bay, and 3rd Place Avenue
North Carolina Plein Air - Artist Choice Award and 3rd Place
Olmsted Invitational - Judges Award of Merit
Oil Painters of America, National Exhibition & Convention
Oil Painters of America, Fall Showcase - 1st Place Award
En Plein Air Texas - Grand Prize Award and Small-Works Award
Smokies Plein Air
Pelin Air Salon, July Competition - 1st Place
Saranac Lake Plein Air - One of the Awards
Plein Air Easton
Paint Grand Traverse - Artist’s Choice and Merit Awards
North Caroline Plein Air - 3rd Place
Coastal Plein Air - Judge
Bath County Plein Air - Best Nocturne Award
Saranac Lake Plein Air - One of the Awards
Plein Air Easton
Gloucester Plein Air Invitational - Award of Best Sunset
Coastal Plein Air - 1st Place
Bath County Plein Air - 3rd Place
Charleston Plein Air NOAPS - 3rd Place
Paint Annapolis - Best Water Award
Fall in Kent Exhibition - 1st Place
B&H Railroad Museum Plein Air MAPAPA - 3rd Place
Color Columbia Plein Air - 1st Place

Statement:
I paint at the seam where perception turns into feeling. Rooted in impressionism’s attunement to light and atmosphere and charged by abstract expressionism’s gestural immediacy, my work translates observed moments into fields of color, rhythm, and texture. I begin with direct studies—landscapes, architecture, fleeting figures—then distill them in the studio, letting structure loosen until image and memory interlace. Edges blur; passages are layered, scraped, and reworked so the surface records time, decision, and doubt. I’m drawn to thresholds—dawn and dusk, departure and return—spaces that invite the viewer to complete what’s suggested rather than stated. Each painting aims to breathe: a balance of restraint and risk, clarity and ambiguity. Ultimately, I want the eye to wander and the pulse to slow, so that looking becomes a sustained encounter—an intimate negotiation between light, memory, and paint.

Biography:
Vlad Milan Duchev was born in 1965 in the small town of Pokrov in Ukraine. Growing up, he was impressed by the art of Russian-Ukrainian impressionists. At the age of 8, he entered an art school in the small town of Bila-Tserkov and began his artistic journey, aiming to join the Art Academy of Ukraine. At the age of 14, under pressure from his musical family, he decided to take a musical path. He studied at the Music College of Zhytomyr, the Music Academy of Kharkiv, and the National Conservatory of Ukraine in Kyiv, with a principal focus on classical performance on the double bass. However, he continued to study painting at the same time. In 1994, he moved his family to the United States due to the unstable situation in Ukraine. He resides and works in Baltimore, MD.