Vladimir Nasonov was born in 1962 in Russia. A self-taught artist, he served two years in the Russian Army after high school, where he painted advertising posters to promote and enhance the image of the National Military, and in the process discovered his own insightful artistic potential. By visiting the Pushkin Museum, the Hermitage Museums, and the National Tretjakov Gallery, Nasonov drew inspiration from Elja Repim, Surikov and Vasnemmzov, along with Western 19th century artists like Monet, Cortes, Blanchard, and Galien-Laloue. As his understanding of art history broadened, he became fascinated with the theories of the impressionists – particularly their determination to study and capture light with delicate, furtive brush strokes. The political and economic structure in Soviet Russia did not permit artists to sell their paintings. However, in order to survive, Nasonov found it necessary to do so from time to time on street corners. This led to arrests and subsequent fines from the local police. After 1985, however, Gorbachev made it possible for artists to officially sell their paintings at outdoor markets set up in government designated locations. In 1992, Nasonov’s paintings were at last discovered by a Russian born American art dealer and introduced to the United States. Nasonov urban canvases glisten with light and rain, and are present a richly textured atmosphere that is at once both romantic and nostalgic.