Donetsk. Sleeping Handsome – Original Donetsk Cityscape Painting by Marina Stognieva

The Story Behind the Painting

“Donetsk. Sleeping Handsome” is an original painting by Ukrainian artist Marina Stognieva, created in the United Kingdom in 2025. Painted in oil on paper, the work belongs to the artist’s large-scale project “Picturesque Guide to Ukraine”, in which she creates individual artistic images dedicated to different regions of Ukraine.

This artwork is dedicated to the Donetsk region of Ukraine. Here, Marina Stognieva presents Donetsk not as a geographical point or a documentary cityscape, but as an image held in memory — slightly unreal, nocturnal, luminous, and mysterious.

Full view of the painting “Donetsk. Sleeping Handsome”. Oil on paper, 19 × 15 cm, 2025.

The night city is filled with cool shades of blue, turquoise, violet, and deep indigo. Within this shimmering space, architecture seems to emerge from memory. Buildings, domes, towers, trees, and streets are not intended as photographic records; instead, they come together as an emotional and painterly impression of the city.

A star-filled sky stretches above Donetsk. Countless small touches of light create movement and an almost musical rhythm. The night does not feel dark or empty — on the contrary, it is full of light, flickering colour, and inner life. In this painting, Donetsk becomes a city that has not disappeared, but continues to exist through memory.

Detail of the painting: a starry night and crescent moon above the church.

One of the most expressive elements is the crescent moon above the church. Suspended over the city, it introduces a feeling of silence, sleep, and expectation. This is where the title “Sleeping Handsome” begins to reveal its meaning: the city seems to have fallen asleep beneath an enormous blue sky, while its beauty, memory, and inner light remain alive.

The artist does not attempt to recreate Donetsk literally. More important to her is the emotional image of the city — its architecture, night lights, atmosphere, and the way a place can remain inside a person even when a great physical distance separates them from it.

The saturated blue palette unites the entire composition and gives the painting a dreamlike quality. Warm yellow, pink, green, and turquoise touches appear among the blues like small flashes of life — windows, lights, reflections, fragments of memory. These luminous accents prevent the city from becoming a silent shadow.

“Donetsk. Sleeping Handsome” is more than an urban landscape. It is a painterly sensation of the city — its beauty, mystery, and place within personal memory. The work reflects the idea that a city can continue to live in a person’s consciousness through colour, architecture, light, and emotion.

Within the “Picturesque Guide to Ukraine” project, every artwork becomes a separate visual story about a particular part of the country. Together, these paintings create a multilayered artistic image of Ukraine — not only through geography and facts, but through atmosphere, beauty, memory, culture, and the artist’s personal perception.

→ Explore the Donetsk Region in “Picturesque Guide to Ukraine”

→ Discover “Picturesque Guide to Ukraine”

Visualisation of “Donetsk. Sleeping Handsome” displayed in an interior.

Artwork Details

Original Artwork & Collectible Fine Art Prints

The painting “Donetsk. Sleeping Handsome” is an original one-of-a-kind artwork by Marina Stognieva, painted by hand in oil on paper.

Collectible Fine Art Prints personally signed by Marina Stognieva may also be available for selected works. Available formats, materials, prices, and other details can be discussed before ordering.

Payment & Worldwide Shipping

Payment can be made via PayPal, bank transfer, or another agreed method.

Worldwide shipping is available. Shipping costs and estimated delivery times are calculated individually depending on the destination and order details.

Works on paper are carefully packaged to provide reliable protection during transportation. All purchase, payment, and international shipping details can be discussed directly with the artist before ordering.

“For me, cities can sleep too. They remain in memory with their light, architecture, night sky, and a feeling that distance cannot erase.”

— Marina Stognieva