Marina Viatkina
I am a writer and art collecting advisor, co-founder and chief editor of the Smart Art - Art History Escape app, and an artist.
Art History Writer
I am a storyteller driven by a passion for uncovering forgotten narratives of the past and bringing them out of obscurity. To me, history is more than a record of what once was – it is a mirror reflecting who we are today, proving that human nature remains unchanged through time.
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Almost every day I write about arts and culture. Sometimes these are curious short stories on the brilliant paintings of the past and the outstanding artists behind them, the other day I focus on longer stories that then become my pop culture-inspired video essays.​
The full collection of over a thousand stories, fun quizzes and over 80,000 carefully categorized artworks, Medieval to Modern, is amassed under my Smart Art - Art History Escape [free to download on any iOS device] – an immersive app dedicated to making art history more relatable and accessible to art enthusiasts worldwide.
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I expand on art history curiosities and share my hands-on art market experience in my blog. Welcome to subscribe to my newsletter to receive the latest art digest straight into your inbox.
Art Collecting Advisor
An Old Master evangelist myself, I have published a guide for emerging collectors and art enthusiasts.
In recent years, I've been giving numerous consultations on various art pieces that puzzled my readers. Learn more about my practice and feel free to reach out for advice on the artwork you own, would like to buy, sell, or restore, or any other matters related to the art market and art in general.
Other projects
I am also an artist, designer of The Great Collector boardgame, and cofounder of the Connoisseur startup that focused on research and development of machine learning and computer vision technologies for the art market.
My other passion is creating videos for my YouTube channels - the legacy one could be useful for those into art collecting, and my new channel is composed of video essays about great mysteries, movies and actors of the past.
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Mystery and art have met in my book – Brute Scandal in Art Brut – a mystery novel inspired by real-life events. Its award-winning video trailer and its behind-the-scenes documentary have been released so far.
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I'm open to private art consultations and public speaking engagements. You can send me an email and follow me on Instagram and X (Twitter).
