Andrei Protsouk has displayed his art in many exhibitions around the world; in Germany, Holland, Russia, Ukraine, and America.

Andrei's works are a part of private and corporate collections: Aurora Publishing House; Academy of Art in New York City; Barcalona Museum of Art, Spain; Coca-Cola in Denmark; Italian Art and White Knights of Venice, Italy; Zimmerli Art Museum, New Brunswick, NJ, USA; Museum of Art Academy in St. Petersburg, Russia; Johnie Walker Expo Co, England; Francais Lang Art, Hambrg Germany; Art Connections, Zurich, Switzerland; Gallerie Adrienne, San Francisco, CA, USA; La Jolla, Artrageous Gallery, New York City, NY, Phoniex, Arizona, USA; Vera Gallery, Aphine, Greece. To Learn More About Andrei (Click Here)

From the Pocono Record
By CHARLES ERICKSON
For the Pocono Record
November 14, 2010

The artist Andrei Protsouk, whose gallery is at 7 N. Sixth St., Stroudsburg, paints in a contemporary figurative style. Sometimes using remnants from the original paints he brought with him from the Soviet Union in 1990, his depictions often feature subjects engaged in intimacies. One large painting, displayed on the wall above his desk, shows a man in a fedora kissing a bare-shouldered woman in a red dress.

"Basically, it's all about love," Protsouk said while looking at the woman in red, his English spoken with a Ukrainian accent. "All my paintings."

His ideas, his inspiration, his brushes, canvases and paints are important tools, but Protsouk's computer allows him to show his works to potential customers around the world. Through the laptop that sits on a desk near the front window, he accesses, monitors and updates his Website, andreiart.com.

"We get 8,000 hits a month," Protsouk said as a visitor looked at the site. The laptop sits only a few feet away from where the artist does the majority of his painting.

Protsouk considers his business to have three segments, and all share a common goal of promoting his work for sale. There is the Andrei Art Gallery, which opened in Stroudsburg in 1997 and moved to its present location eight years ago. There is andreiart.com, and a segment he calls art publishing.

"We're making limited-edition prints from basically everything that I create," he said about the publishing. Five companies have been subcontracted to produce the prints on canvas or paper. Most of the prints are wholesaled to sellers at trade shows, including a recent event in Las Vegas.

Sales of art have not suffered during the recession, according to Protsouk. He said more of his paintings are selling now than before the economy stalled in 2008.

"Only 2 percent of the population collects art," he explained. "Intelligent people are still collecting because they understand the advantage of collecting arts."

Protsouk said some pieces have appreciated four times their selling prices of 2005 — a rate of return that exceeded most common stocks during the same period.

Art created by Protsouk primarily belongs to collectors and investors that near the nation's major population centers. Places like Boston, New York City and Los Angeles contain higher concentrations of college-educated types with significant financial assets. They are some of Protsouk's best customers.

Still, he never takes their patronage for granted. He believes they are interested in his depictions, not his brand.

"That's why you have to be a great artist," Protsouk said. "Then, people want your work. If you're not great, nobody wants it."

He begins all of his paintings with a drawing. When he makes the first brush strokes on a new canvas, he already knows what will be painted upon it.

Art budgets differ among customers. Protsouk creates small paintings with hand-painted frames that sell for between $1,200 and $2,800. Though hardly cheap, these works get his products into a customer's home. Some buyers of the smaller paintings have returned later, when their budgets allowed, and paid up to $50,000 for larger works.

"Sophisticated and intelligent people are still collecting," he said, "because it's the only way you can prove your intelligence."

Five people serve as Protsouk's agents. They develop commercial relationships with galleries that sell his artwork.

"They're working with more than 30 galleries in the United States and another 20 in the U.K.," he said.

As important as the website has become for Protsouk's business, galleries in large cities still sell much of his art. Having the work available in Los Angeles and London also imbues the creations with a legitimacy that cannot be achieved solely through online transactions.

Protsouk, 49, and his family did not settle in Stroudsburg by chance. He chose the Poconos because it is close to New York City, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.

"It's only one hour away from the George Washington," he said about the bridge the crosses the Hudson River. "We do lots of business in New York."

His home in the former Soviet Union was the city of Donetsk, Ukraine. It is known for its coal mines and steel mills. There are many parts of Pennsylvania that remind him of his native city.

"Yeah, it's almost like a hometown here," he said. "Yeah."

Protsouk has been trying to perfect another Web-related venture he hopes will allow him to further profit from his talents. Taught exclusively online, it would be a year-long art course.

"It's called 'If You Want to Draw like Michelangelo,'" he said, smiling.

Andrei Art Gallery is at 7 N. Sixth St., Stroudsburg. Call 570-476-4407; see www.andreiart.com.