Brechneff was born in the Belgian Congo in 1950, raised in Switzerland and later came to study in the United States. In 1975 he received a Masters of Art degree from London’s College of Art. Known internationally for his exuberantly expressive pastel and oil landscapes as well as his ruddy ink flower drawings, Brechneff has won numerous awards. His work has been exhibited in museums and galleries across the globe including Daniel Blaise Thorens Fine Art Gallery in Basel, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the National Gallery in Athens, Karouzou Gallery in Zurich, and now at Hal Bromm Gallery in Tribeca.

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Christian Brechneff began creating sunscapes from his rooftop on Sifnos, Greece where he has lived each summer since the early 70s. His work moves seamlessly from sunrises to sunsets, continually deploying striking contrasts and fervent gestures. In 1999, he traveled to South Africa and continued to paint sunrises and sunsets in Rock Tail Bay and Kwa Zulu Natal, returning there again in 2000. The following year, determined to paint the Pacific Ocean, he travelled to Haramara, Mexico near Sayulito Puerto Vallarte to capture the depth of colors behind the endless expanse of sea. 

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Next on his quest, Brechneff stayed closer to New York City, drawing sunsets on Long Island, working from an ocean front guest house in the dunes. Here Brechneff created his warm East Hampton series in dry pastel. Tracking the sun’s changing reflections on the Aegean Sea, the Indian Ocean, the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, Brechneff returned to the Caribbean Sea for his most recent Pic Paradis pastels. 

Brechneff turned to painting the four seasons- an organic expansion for an artist obsessed with capturing the unstable forces of nature- when he returned to Switzerland to capture the Swiss Alps in Sils Maria. He continued this theme when he went to Venice working from the seafront in Giudecca. 

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