Kirill Sokolov (1930 – 2004) was a celebrated Russian painter and one of the former Soviet Union’s most dedicated professional artists, studying at the prestigious Surikov Institute in Moscow between 1950 and 1957. In 1960 he met and later married a British research student, one of the first foreign marriages allowed in post-Stalinist Russia.

In 1974 Sokolov left Russia with his family and drove across Europe ending up in Berwick-upon-Tweed which for aperiod became his artistic refuge and

the family’s home. A prolific artist with an insatiable appetite for methods and materials, this exhibition explores Sokolov’s work from his time in the town and the influence of Northumberland on his work.