The Beauty of the Body

Volha Bazyleva was born in Belarus. Drawing has been her favourite pastime since early childhood. When it came time to enter university, Volha’s choice was the Institute of Business in Minsk (Belarus). Then she moved to Germany to improve her German. Two years later, she moved to Italy, got married and began teaching art there. But Volha’s real passion was in painting, and that’s what she started to do. Volha has already held exhibitions in South Tyrol, North Italy, and Regensburg (Regensburg), Germany.

Experts say that the work of a young artist is typically characterised by genre diversity, different techniques, e.g., landscapes, still life, animalistic work in abstract art, works of different methods (oil, acrylic, straws, pastel, graphics, etc.). Volha’s speciality is portraits; indeed, her portraits of famous personalities is what she is most famous. The artist herself considers her portrait of then-Pope Benedict her favourite. Volha managed to get an audience with Georg Ratzinger, the then-Pope’s brother, who liked the picture. He even declared that Volha’s portrait of the Pope was the best portrait of the Pope ever done. In July 2011, Volha gave the work the right hand of Benedict prelate Wachter. He promised that the film would go on display at the Vatican. Another exciting event was the meeting with Princess Gloria von Thurn und Taxis in her castle St. Emmeram at Regensburg in Germany. Princess Gloria is a representative of old German aristocracy, and her villa is a real open-air museum. Volha presented her a titled portrait. The press in Italy and Germany have carried several articles on the works of Volha Bazylevoy, with the writers noting how his works portray the Belarusian soul. The artist currently lives in Singapore.

Portraits of famous personalities:

1. Luis Durnwalder is a politician of Italy, former governor of the autonomous province of South Tyrol from 1989 until 2014, and vice-president of Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, in Northern Italy.

2. Gloria, Princess of Thurn and Taxis is a German businesswoman, manager, artist and member, by marriage, of the German princely House of Thurn and Taxis.

3. Pope Benedict XVI, Pope of the Catholic Church from 2005 to 2013. He was elected pope on 19 April 2005, was inaugurated on 24 April 2005 and resigned from the office on 28 February 2013.