
Victoria Berdichevsky is a classically-trained visual artist specializing in costume design for theatre and ballet productions, illustration, portraiture, figure drawing and still-life. She is the third generation in her family to pursue visual arts as a career.
Victoria was born in Moscow, Russia. She is a graduate of the venerable Russian visual arts academy – The Surikov’s College of Fine Art. She also holds a Masters in Stage and Costume Design for Theatre and Film from the Moscow Art Theater School (MXAT) – a premier institution of higher learning; its reputation led the Institute for Advanced Theatre Training at Harvard to make residency at MXAT a part of their program.
In the years after her graduation Victoria opened her own studio in Moscow and established herself as a consummate professional of fine portraiture. Alongside her artistic practice as a painter, she also pursued a career in costume design and worked for prominent Mali theatre designing costumes for such plays as Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard and Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Victoria’s approach to costume design is informed by her studio practice as a classically trained figurative painter. Her designs, quite aside from their functional purpose, are said to be art pieces in themselves - carefully crafted and elaborately detailed, they capture in great detail the sartorial splendors of different periods and cultures.
In 1989 Victoria moved to Toronto, Canada where she continues to reside with her four daughters, who are the models for many of her portraits. After her arrival in Canada, initially Victoria focused on painting portraits of her family as well as of many clients who have commissioned her work. After learning English and letting down roots, Victoria expanded her artistic practice to include illustration, costume design and teaching art.
Victoria has illustrated a children’s book, Pavlova’s Gift (Stoddart Publishing, 1996) and has been engaged in designing costumes for such theater productions as The Nutcracker, (The Ontario Ballet Theatre) and The Snowmaiden (Royal Alexandra Theatre). Victoria has also created costume designs for productions by a critically-acclaimed Russian-Canadian theatre named after the Russian theatre director L. V. Varpahovsky. Victoria is also a sought-after teacher of costume design, portraiture, figure drawing, still-life, illustration, as well as art history and the history of costume.
Victoria’s costume designs and paintings are held in private collections in Russia, Europe and North America.