Renowned Soviet and Russian artist Erik Bulatov has passed away in Paris at the age of 92, as reported by the media on Sunday.

Bulatov rose to prominence in the 1970s as a key figure in the Soviet pop art movement, skillfully blending figurative art with slogans and text to critique state propaganda.

In 2025, The Art Newspaper Russia named Bulatov the top-selling living Russian artist, emphasizing the market value of his works. His 1975 artwork, “Glory to the CPSU [Communist Party],” fetched $2.1 million at a London auction in 2008.

Born on September 5, 1933, in Sverdlovsk (now known as Yekaterinburg) and trained at the Surikov Art Institute in Moscow, Bulatov initially started his artistic journey by illustrating children’s books.

He later became a key figure in the Sots Art movement, a postmodernist endeavor that melded text with images, alongside the Moscow Conceptualists, a group that examined conceptual and philosophical concepts in their art.

Bulatov lived in New York from 1989 before permanently moving to Paris in 1992. Throughout his career, he engaged in various projects in Russia, including a significant mural completed in 2020 and a retrospective exhibition celebrating his 90th birthday in the Nizhny Novgorod region.

While the specific cause of Bulatov’s death has not been disclosed, the state-run TASS news agency reported a family friend stating that he passed away in a Paris hospital following treatment for a lung condition.

A memorial service will be held in Paris, and he is set to be buried in Moscow, according to the family friend.

He is survived by his wife, Natalia Bulatova.