Celebrated Artist Erik Bulatov Passes Away in Paris at 92

Renowned Soviet and Russian artist Erik Bulatov passed away in Paris at the age of 92, as reported by the media on Sunday.

Emerging in the 1970s, Bulatov became a prominent figure in the Soviet pop art movement, fusing figurative visuals with slogans and text to critique state propaganda.

In 2025, The Art Newspaper Russia ranked Bulatov first on its list considering the market value of artworks sold by living Russian artists. His 1975 piece “Glory to the CPSU [Communist Party]” fetched $2.1 million at a London auction in 2008.

Born on September 5, 1933, in Sverdlovsk (currently Yekaterinburg) and trained at the Surikov Art Institute in Moscow, Bulatov began his artistic journey by illustrating children’s books.

He later initiated the Sots Art movement, a postmodernist style that merges text with imagery, alongside the Moscow Conceptualists, a group examining conceptual and philosophical ideas in art.

Bulatov resided in New York beginning in 1989 before permanently moving to Paris in 1992. He often returned to Russia for various projects, including a substantial mural in 2020 and a retrospective celebrating his 90th birthday in the Nizhny Novgorod region.

While the official cause of his passing has not been disclosed, a family friend quoted by the state-backed TASS news agency reported that he died in a Paris hospital following treatment for a lung ailment.

A memorial service for Bulatov is planned in Paris, and he will be interred in Moscow, according to the family friend.

He is survived by his wife, Natalia Bulatova.