Skip to content
Ilya Marchenko in his Williamsburg studio, standing before a half-finished portrait on linen.
Painter Ilya · Brooklyn, est. 2011

Portrait & mural, hand-built
from linen and pigment.

Award-winning portrait & mural artistry, crafted one brushstroke at a time.

Request a Commission
Atelier

A working studio in Williamsburg, open by appointment since 2011.

I built this studio to be visible. The door opens onto a working room — stretched linen drying against the wall, pigment ground by hand each morning, a single portrait in progress on the easel. When you visit, you will meet me, see the painting in motion, and leave with a clearer sense of what a commission here actually costs in time and attention.

I trained classically — at the Florence Academy of Art (Class of 2009) and later at the New York Studio School — and I keep a deliberately small intake so each work receives the months it deserves. Every canvas begins as raw linen; every layer is built by hand. Nothing in the studio is printed, reproduced, or outsourced.

If you are considering a portrait, a mural for a home or hospitality space, or a live painting for a brand event, the next step is a conversation. I offer a complimentary thirty-minute discovery consultation to every prospective client — in the studio, by phone, or on a video call — so we can scope the work together before any deposit is discussed.

Most commissions run between eight and fourteen weeks from deposit to delivery. A waitlist of roughly six months has become the norm for portraits, which I mention not as a barrier but as an honest measure of the studio's pace.

Catalogue

Selected Commissions, 2019–2024

A curated record of private and corporate portraits, murals, and large-scale works completed for collectors in fourteen countries. Plates are presented in the order they were photographed for the studio archive.

  1. Portrait of a private collector, oil on linen, 36 by 48 inches, completed 2023.
    Plate I Portrait of a Collector Oil on linen · 36 × 48 in · 2023 · Private collection, New York
  2. Underdrawing for a residential dining-room mural, charcoal on linen, 2022.
    Plate II Garden Mural, Underdrawing Charcoal on linen · 9 × 14 ft · 2022 · Private residence, Connecticut
  3. Commissioned portrait of a young executive, oil on linen, 2021.
    Plate III Portrait of an Heir Oil on linen · 30 × 40 in · 2021 · Private collection, London
  4. Completed dining-room mural installed in a private residence, 2022.
    Plate IV Garden Mural, Installed Oil on linen, site-installed · 9 × 14 ft · 2022 · Private residence, Connecticut

View the full commission archive →

Disciplines

Portraits, murals, and live painting.

Three lanes of work, each custom-scoped. Every project begins with a discovery consultation and a written proposal — there is no menu of sizes, no catalogue of prices, and no rush.

  1. 01

    Portrait Commissions

    Single and multi-figure portraits on raw linen, built from sittings in the studio or from photographs when geography requires. Each work is sized to its wall, framed to its room, and delivered between eight and fourteen weeks from deposit.

    From one figure to family groups of four · Oil on linen
  2. 02

    Mural & Large-Scale Work

    Site-built murals and decorative schemes for private residences, boutique hospitality, and corporate interiors. The studio collaborates with the project's architect or designer from the first measured drawing through final varnish.

    Residential · Hospitality · Corporate · Up to 40 ft
  3. 03

    Live Painting for Events

    On-site painting for brand launches, store openings, and private celebrations. The artist works in view of guests over the course of an evening or a multi-day activation; the finished canvas is then signed and delivered to the host.

    Past partners include Hermès, Bvlgari, and Soho House · 60+ activations
The Record

A record of commissions, 2011–present.

  1. 340+ Commissions completed for private and corporate collectors since 2011.
  2. 14 Countries across four continents — international shipping and on-site installation included.
  3. 4.96/5 Average client satisfaction across 180+ verified post-commission reviews.
  4. ~6 mo Average waitlist for new portrait commissions — a signal of consistent demand.

Named Emerging Portrait Artist of the Year by the International Art Critics Association, 2022. Permanent collection acquisition, Brooklyn Museum of Art, 2023.

Press

Featured in

  • Architectural Digest
  • House & Garden
  • Galerie Magazine
  • The World of Interiors
“A studio that treats the portrait commission the way a Florentine workshop once did — with patience, with visible craft, and with the quiet confidence that the work will outlive the room it was made for.”
Architectural Digest, Portfolio Feature, 2023

Nineteen major publications between 2019 and 2024. Trusted by more than forty interior design firms as a go-to portrait and mural partner.

Request a Commission