Bob Garren
Bob Garren is the owner of Robert Garren Gallery. He has an MFA from Rochester Institute of Technology in New York. Formerly a University Professor and Head of the Art Department, he hosted two visiting Russian artists who had come to visit the U.S. in the early ’90s to exhibit their work. They, in turn, invited him through the Russian Artists’ Union to make a trip to Russia to meet other artists and learn about the Russian academic system. Bob made his first trip to Russia in 1994, and was so impressed not only by the vast array of art he saw there but by its quality. He bought four paintings his first trip, and the next trip he bought several more, and the next trip, more… Bob stopped teaching in 1997 to deal full-time in Russian art. Until recently he was traveling to Russia several times a year to buy paintings directly from artists in cities such as St. Petersburg, Moscow, & Voronezh. Through these adventures he has developed close personal relationships with the artists and their families.