Born in Moscow in 1974, Master Painter Alexei Butirskiy visited an exhibition at the Pushkin Museum at the age of five and it was then he decided to become an artist. Butirskiy entered Moscow Art College, then in 1996 he finished his studies at the Art College and graduated with an Excellence Diploma. In 1998, Butirskiy completed the Russian Academy of the Arts where he studied under respected professor L.S. Hasyanova. Since 1996, Butirskiy has participated in more than 50 exhibitions, one-man shows and auctions in Russia, England and the United States. Founded in the realist technique and bordering on impressionism, he paints with oil on canvas in the style of Vermeer, Rembrant, Jourj Latur, Andru Waite, Serov (XIX), Levitan (XIX). Most recently, Alexei Butirskiy has concentrated his efforts on representing urban life around him in truthful and unglorified terms. Thinking of his work as psychological portraiture, his landscapes embody a sense of calm and peacefulness. Focusing in realism with nods to impressionism, his original oil paintings possess an unerring ability to capture light and shadow with many pieces seeming as if they are inherently illuminated. A sense of tranquility is conveyed in each of Butirskiy's paintings. They are typically without action of conviviality and most are uncannily still, with only light, space, shadows and color offering dialog and the profound power of the relationship between light and dark.