Oleg Nikolayevich Tselkov (Russian: Оле́г Никола́евич Целко́в; 15 July 1934 — 11 July 2021) was a Russian nonconformist artist, celebrated for his images of faces painted in bright color, depicting inner psychological patterns of violence in contemporary culture.

In 1956 he had his first apartment exhibition in the Vladimir Slepyan (1930–1998) houseroom. In 1958 he graduated from the Saint Petersburg State Theater Arts Academy, where he studied under experimental scenic designer and theater director Nikolay Akimov. In the 1960s and 1970s, the Tselkov studio in Moscow was visited over the years by such celebrities as, Arthur Miller, David Alfaro Siqueiros, Renato Guttuso, Lilya Brik, Anna Akhmatova, Joseph Brodsky, Yevgeny Yevtushenko (close friend of Tselkov), Louis Aragon, and Pablo Neruda.

The first Tselkov solo exhibition was opened in Kurchatov Institute in January 1966, but after two days it was closed by the KGB for being ideologically unacceptable. In 1977 Tselkov moved to Paris. Some time later, he bought a farm in the Champagne region of France, 300 km from Paris. There he equipped a two-floor studio where he lived and worked.

Literature: Sapguir, Kira (2010). Squaring the circle : Vladimir Yankilevsky, Oscar Rabin, Oleg Tselkov, Dmitry Krasnopevtsev : Aktis gallery, London (in English and Russian). Paris: Somogy Art Publishers. p. 94: ill.; Aleksandr Kamensky. Олег Целков / Oleg Tselkov (in Russian, French, and English). 1992, Paris—Moscow—New York.

Inscription: signed in pencil lower left.

Technique: original etching on paper,  matted and framed.

Measurements:  image w 10 1/4” x h 15 1/8” (26 x 38,5 cm), matted and framed w 16” x h 19 7/8” (40,5 x 50,5 cm).

Condition:  very good.