Useful Articles · For artists
How to Write an Artist’s CV: What to Include, What to Leave Out and What to Do with Little Experience
Tatiana Knyazhitskaya · 2026
A CV does not explain an artist’s talent, nor does it replace a portfolio. It shows how their professional path has taken shape and what place they occupy in the art world.
Imagine for a moment that Leonardo da Vinci is drawing up a CV (curriculum vitae) at the request of the French court. The document looks restrained, even dry. Facts alone: where he studied and worked, what positions he held, which commissions and works became the most important. There is nothing in it about the flight of birds, the mystery of the Mona Lisa’s smile or the workings of the universe.
Why an artist needs a CV
In an artist’s professional life this document is required constantly. It is requested by galleries, museums, organisers of exhibitions, competitions and residencies, foundations and publishers.
A CV exists so that the reader can quickly grasp where the artist studied, which projects they have taken part in, whether they have won awards, whether their work has been published and whether it is held in museum or private collections.
The portfolio shows the works. The biography tells the story of a life and a practice. The employment résumé presents work experience, skills and positions held.
What to include in an artist’s CV
The contents depend on experience, but a CV usually includes:
- name, specialisation, city of residence, website and contact details;
- education — art schools, studios and significant professional programmes;
- solo exhibitions;
- selected group exhibitions;
- residencies, grants and awards;
- publications and catalogues;
- museum, corporate and private collections that hold your work.
Within each section, entries run from the most recent to the earliest. Each entry should answer four questions: when, what, where, and in which city or country.
For most applications an abridged CV of one or two pages is enough. The full version can be published on your website or kept for your records.
Weak:
“Has taken part in many exhibitions in Russia and abroad.”
The phrase sounds impressive but says nothing. It is unclear which exhibitions are meant, or where and when they took place.
Strong:
2026 — Horizon Line, group exhibition, Gallery N, Saint Petersburg.
2025 — The Inner Garden, solo exhibition, Exhibition Hall N, Pskov.
2024 — Art Nordic, international art fair, Copenhagen.
Precise information is always more convincing than a general claim.
What Leonardo’s CV might have looked like
Let us imagine Leonardo compiling it around 1518, when he is living in France and working at the court of Francis I.
Leonardo da Vinci
Born 15 April 1452, Vinci, near Florence.
Lives and works at Clos Lucé, near Amboise, France.
Painter, master draughtsman, engineer, architect, stage designer, researcher.
Education
1470s — training and work in the workshop of Andrea del Verrocchio, Florence.
Professional membership
1472 — admitted to the Guild of Saint Luke, the painters’ confraternity, Florence.
Professional experience
Since 1516 — First Painter, Engineer and Architect to King Francis I. Lives and works at Clos Lucé, near Amboise, creating artistic, architectural, engineering and festival projects for the French court.
1513–1516 — work in Rome under the patronage of Giuliano de’ Medici.
1506–1513 — painter, engineer and researcher in Milan.
1500–1506 — painter and engineer in Florence; in 1502, military engineer and cartographer in the service of Cesare Borgia; from 1503 to 1506, worked on The Battle of Anghiari, commissioned by the Florentine Republic.
c. 1482–1499 — painter, engineer and author of court projects at the court of Ludovico Sforza, Milan.
1472–c. 1482 — painter in Florence.
Selected works and projects
From 1508 — Saint John the Baptist, painting on panel.
From 1503 — Mona Lisa, painting on panel.
1503–1506 — The Battle of Anghiari, monumental mural for the Palazzo Vecchio, Florence; unfinished.
1495–1498 — The Last Supper, mural in the refectory of the monastery of Santa Maria delle Grazie, Milan.
1483–1494 — The Virgin of the Rocks, painting on panel.
c. 1474–1478 — Portrait of Ginevra de’ Benci, painting on panel.
1472–1475 — The Annunciation, painting on panel.
Principal areas of work
Painting, drawing, monumental art, portraiture, architecture, engineering design, stage design, cartography.
Selected patrons and clients
King Francis I, Giuliano de’ Medici, the Florentine Republic, Cesare Borgia, Ludovico Sforza.
Such a document does not convey the full complexity and genius of Leonardo — nor should it. It allows the reader to see at a glance the scale and principal directions of his professional activity. That is precisely what a CV is for.
Leonardo lived long ago. His CV lacks the sections a contemporary artist should include: residencies, art fairs and museum collections. This imaginary document lists the court appointments of his day and the names of his patrons. You will build the structure of your own CV from your actual experience as an artist.
What matters — and what can go
There is no need to include everything that has ever happened in your professional life. Behind a dozen minor exhibitions, the reader may fail to notice the two that really matter. Incidental courses, jobs unrelated to art and outdated details are also best removed.
Weak:
“A renowned contemporary artist with a unique signature style, participant in numerous prestigious projects.”
Strong:
“Member of the Artists’ Union of Russia since 2018. Participant in exhibition projects at the State Museum N and Gallery N. Works are held in the collection of Museum N and in private collections in Russia and Germany.”
In the first case the artist praises themselves. In the second, they state facts from which the reader can draw their own conclusion.
What to write when you have little experience
A short CV is not the same as a poor CV. There is no need to fill the emptiness with generalities or to turn every workshop into a major professional achievement.
Begin with your education, then list a few exhibitions, creative projects, competitions or studio programmes. Sections for which you have no material yet are simply left out.
For example:
Education
2022–2026 — Saint Petersburg Academy of Art and Industry, Department N.
Selected exhibitions
2026 — degree show, Hall N, Saint Petersburg.
2025 — young artists’ group exhibition Title, Space N, Saint Petersburg.
Two precise entries say more about an artist than a hazy phrase about “a wealth of creative experience”.
An experienced artist, by contrast, will find it useful to keep two versions of the document: a full CV for the website and the archive, and an abridged one with selected entries for applications and portfolios.
Compiling a CV does not mean mechanically copying dates from diplomas, posters and catalogues. It means selecting the facts, weighing their significance and setting out your professional path so that it can be taken in at a glance.
I can compile a CV from scratch, bring accumulated records into order, or prepare full and abridged versions of the document for different purposes. Write to me.