Urban Cityscapes
Moment in Prague — Tram 22 Ballpoint pen on Whatman paper | 25.5" × 16.1" | Available Blue monochrome. National Museum exhibited. One of the finest European cityscapes in ballpoint pen.
L'Industrie — A Paris Moment Ballpoint pen on Whatman paper | 23.4" × 16.7" | 2015 | Available National Museum centerpiece. Nashville Art Film Festival headline work. One of the finest Parisian cityscapes ever rendered in ballpoint pen.
Parisian Street Ballpoint pen on Whatman paper | Sold A Parisian boulevard captured in extraordinary detail. Part of a private collection.
Snowy New York Ballpoint pen on Whatman paper | Available Park Avenue under a blizzard. The snow itself is not drawn — it lives in the white space the pen never touched.
Venice Canal — Gondolas Ballpoint pen on Whatman paper | 32.2" × 20" | Available Gondoliers, grand facades, Hotel Lisbona — Venice at its most timeless. Published in Ballpoint Art (Gingko Press).
Photographer Ballpoint pen on Whatman paper | 21.98" × 13.3" | 2012 | Available A solitary figure caught in a fleeting moment — rendered with the unforgiving precision only ballpoint pen demands.
Sparkle at the Train Station Ballpoint pen on Whatman paper | 21.6" × 14.5" | 2012 | Available A moment of pure emotion on a train platform — movement, light, and connection frozen in monochrome.
Nocturne Ballpoint pen on Whatman paper | Available A solitary figure on a rain-soaked street — city lights glowing in the darkness, the world reduced to monochrome and atmosphere. The work that defines the poletaevart.com identity.
Madison Avenue — New York Ballpoint pen on Whatman paper | 32.2" × 18.1" | 2013 | Available A cinematic panorama of Midtown Manhattan — the canyon of glass and stone rendered in extraordinary blue monochrome detail.
Fishermen in Istanbul Ballpoint pen on Whatman paper | 19.4" × 28.1" | 2013 | Available Fishermen line the Galata Bridge as the Hagia Sophia rises through the haze. Istanbul captured in a single timeless moment.
The Magnificent Mile — Chicago Ballpoint pen on Whatman paper | 28.3" × 21.2" | 2015 | Available Tiffany & Co., The Peninsula, the Chicago skyline — Michigan Avenue rendered in extraordinary detail. Created in the city where Poletaev's work was first exhibited at a major museum.
Streets of Paris Ballpoint pen on Whatman paper | Available Haussmann facades, scooters, a police car turning the corner — Paris captured street-level with extraordinary precision. The artist's own favorite work for its craftsmanship.
End of Summer Ballpoint pen on Whatman paper | 28.7" × 21.6" | 2016 | Available A Russian Orthodox church rises above a busy city crossing — pedestrians, traffic signals and Soviet-era architecture captured in stunning blue monochrome.
Sunny Day — Church of Cosmas and Damian Ballpoint pen on Whatman paper | 28.7" × 21.6" | 2016 | Available The Church of Cosmas and Damian, built in 1794 — light, shadow and blue monochrome creating the sensation of a genuine sunny day. 250 hours. Pure ballpoint pen.
Hollywood & Elegance
Humphrey Bogart — All Through the Night Ballpoint pen on Whatman paper | 17.7" × 20.8" | 2016 | Museum Exhibited | Available The crown jewel of the Hollywood Series. Bogart mid-scene — gloved hands, revolver, shadow looming behind. Pure cinema rendered in pure ballpoint pen.
Audrey Hepburn — Holly Golightly Ballpoint pen and mixed techniques | 28" × 21" | 2017 | Available An intimate close-up study of Hollywood's most beloved icon. Every eyelash, every expression line — rendered in extraordinary detail.
Audrey & Mr. Famous Ballpoint pen on Whatman paper | 26.1" × 19.6" | 2013 | Available Audrey Hepburn and her beloved Yorkshire Terrier — rendered in striking blue monochrome. Elegance and tenderness in a single composition.
Audrey Hepburn — Breakfast at Tiffany's Ballpoint pen on Whatman paper | 16" × 24.5" | 2017 | Museum Exhibited | Available Holly Golightly — cigarette holder, diamond earring, little black dress. The most iconic image in Hollywood history rendered in pure monochrome.
Ingrid Bergman Ballpoint pen on Whatman paper | 16.3" × 11.8" | 2015 | Museum Exhibited | Available One of Hollywood's golden age greats — rendered in breathtaking monochrome detail. Every curl, every shadow, every button on her collar.
Marilyn Monroe Ballpoint pen on Whatman paper | 24.8" × 18.8" | 2013 | Available Marilyn against bold graphic stripes — glamour, tension and timeless presence captured in pure monochrome ballpoint pen.
Sandra Bullock Ballpoint pen on Whatman paper | 21.4" × 17.5" | Museum Exhibited | Available Sandra Bullock — playful, powerful, unmistakable. Rendered in pure monochrome with the precision that defines Poletaev's Hollywood Series.
Rosie Huntington-Whiteley Ballpoint pen on Whatman paper | 28.3" × 17.7" | 2013 | Available A figure study of extraordinary technical precision — light, shadow and skin rendered in monochrome with the unforgiving exactness only ballpoint pen demands.
Wild Ballpoint pen on Whatman paper | 29.9" × 20" | 2011 | Available Raw energy and movement frozen in monochrome — an early work that signals the full force of what was to come.
The Joker Ballpoint pen on Whatman paper | 27.9" × 20.4" | 2011 | Available Why so serious? The Joker rendered in extraordinary close-up detail — every wrinkle, every tooth, the madness in the eyes. One of the most technically demanding works in the portfolio.
Wanted — Maleficent Ballpoint pen on Whatman paper | 30.5" × 19.6" | 2015 | Sold A wanted poster reimagined as fine art — Maleficent, dead or alive, $100,000,000 reward. Bold, theatrical, and utterly original. Part of a private collection.
Dance in Red I Ballpoint pen on Whatman paper | 21.1" × 33.8" | 2017 | Available Two figures in motion — red and black ballpoint pen creating a composition of extraordinary elegance and tension. Exhibited at the Ukrainian National Museum of Chicago.
Dance in Red II Ballpoint pen on Whatman paper | 20" × 32.2" | 2017 | Available The companion piece to Dance in Red I — and the work selected for the cover of Above Art Magazine. Exhibited at the Ukrainian National Museum of Chicago. Pure ballpoint pen at its most expressive.
Art Mechanica
Art Mechanica Ballpoint pen on paper | 29.5" × 24" | 2016 | Available The flagship work. A mechanical figure, a lady in black, train wheels and street lamps — a world unto itself rendered in pure ballpoint pen. The piece that defined a collection and established Poletaev as one of the world's foremost imaginative realists.
Rhino Mechanica — Terra Incognita Mixed media on Whatman paper | 21" × 21" | 2018 | Available A mechanical rhinoceros carrying the weight of unknown territory — Latin inscriptions, compass rose, kinematic equations and a Russian physics law hidden within. Five mediums. One extraordinary vision.
Flight of Whimsy Mixed media on Whatman paper | 24" × 24" | 2018 | Available Gravity defied. Logic abandoned. A work of pure imaginative freedom — rendered with the obsessive precision that defines every piece in the Art Mechanica collection.
Vintage Operator Graphite on paper | 22" × 27" | 2018 | Available A Victorian lady aboard a magnificent steampunk contraption — hanging lanterns, pressure gauges, a mechanical rabbit co-pilot, a misty forest beyond. Whimsical, nostalgic and technically breathtaking.
Generation Ballpoint pen on paper | 2019 | Currently on international exhibition — inquire for availability A crawling child wearing a gas mask, carrying a house and a wheel — a meditation on the weight of the modern world. One of the most conceptually powerful works in the collection.
Pink Carnival Mixed media | 2020 | Currently on international exhibition — inquire for availability A female face, a jester, a lantern — all suspended in a world of pink and black stripes. Theatrical, surreal and completely unlike anything else in contemporary art.
Nocturne Mechanica 2020 | Currently on international exhibition — inquire for availability Where the mechanical meets the nocturnal — a companion piece to Art Mechanica and an evolution of everything the collection stands for.
Miniatures
Dance Study I — Miniature Ballpoint pen on paper | 8.25" × 11.5" | 2017 | Available Two figures in motion — flowing fabric, intertwined limbs, pure blue monochrome. A miniature from the Elegance collection.
Dance Study II — Miniature Ballpoint pen on paper | 8.25" × 11.5" | 2017 | Available A dancer against geometric lines and circles — movement and mathematics in perfect balance. Pure blue ballpoint pen.
Dance Study III — Miniature Ballpoint pen on paper | 8.25" × 11.5" | 2017 | Available Three dancers intertwined — grace, strength and precision captured in blue monochrome. From the Elegance collection.
Dance Study IV — Miniature Ballpoint pen on paper | 8.25" × 11.5" | 2017 | Available A dancer in full flight — music notes, sweeping curves and pure kinetic energy rendered in blue ballpoint pen.
European Street — Miniature Pencil on paper | 8.25" × 11.5" | 2017 | Available A sun-drenched European street scene — cobblestones, café umbrellas and period architecture captured in delicate pencil.
Chateau — Miniature Ballpoint pen on paper | 8.25" × 11.5" | 2016 | Available A romantic chateau reflected in still water — spires, gabled rooftops and summer trees in striking blue ballpoint pen.
Istanbul at Dusk — Miniature Pencil on paper | 8.25" × 11.5" | 2017 | Available A ferry crosses the Bosphorus as the Hagia Sophia and Blue Mosque rise through the haze. Istanbul at its most atmospheric.
Rome — Miniature Pencil on paper | 8.25" × 11.5" | 2017 | Available A bridge over the Tiber, St. Peter's dome rising beyond — Rome captured in quiet, timeless pencil.
Strasbourg — Miniature Pencil on paper | 8.25" × 11.5" | 2017 | Available A modern tram glides past Haussmann facades as the Strasbourg Cathedral spire rises in the distance. Old and new in perfect balance.
Tram No. 24 — Miniature Ballpoint pen and mixed techniques | 8.25" × 11.5" | 2016 | Available A boy stands alone as Tram 24 approaches — bold, graphic and deeply nostalgic. A childhood memory rendered in ballpoint pen and mixed techniques.
Tram No. 3107 — Miniature Ballpoint pen and mixed techniques | 8.25" × 11.5" | 2016 | Available Soviet-era Tram 3107 rolls through a summer street — passengers, shadows and the unmistakable atmosphere of another era.
Tram No. 23 — Miniature Pencil on paper | 8.25" × 11.5" | 2017 | Available Tram 23 emerges through a misty winter landscape — bare trees, power lines and the quiet poetry of an ordinary moment.