1921 - 1997 Aleksandr Burak was born in Efrimovka, Tomsk Province, Russia in 1921. He studied at the Novosibirsk Engineering-Construction Institute under the architecture faculty 1938- 43. Simultaneously, he studied painting in the studio of I. K. Slyusarev. He began exhibiting in 1947 and became an official artist of the Soviet Union in 1949. As a member of the Union of Russian Painters, Burak participated in many All-Union Exhibitions, including those held in Moscow in 1951, 1952 and 1955. He also was featured in the Soviet Russia Exhibition in Moscow in 1960. He was named Honored Artist of Russia. He spent his art career in Sverdlovsk and was a professor of art at the Sverdlovsk Art College. Known primarily as a master of industrial, historical and lyrical landscapes, Burak’s paintings are in the permanent collection of the prestigious Tretyakov State Gallery in Moscow and in numerous regional museums throughout Russia. His works are in major collections in the United States, Great Britain and France. Burak is listed in Matthew Bown’s, A Dictionary of Twentieth Century Russian and Soviet Painters, 1900 – 1980’s. An image of his painting, “The Young Skier”, 1953, is featured in the book.