Konstantin Razumov, 1974 | Children's world

Konstantín Rázumov (Константин Разумов) is a Russian painter with a realistic-impressionistic tendency.

He began his studies in art and painting in the studio Ilyá Glazunov at the Academy of Fine Arts in Moscow.

Razúmov is faithful to early Impressionism; however, he adds some modern touches, which are most evident in his beautiful, charming, soft and sensual figures.

Olga Dugina, 1964 | 1001 Nights

Sheherazade, the king's beautiful wife, is due to be executed at dawn - unless she can convince the king to change his mind.

That night she tells him a wonderful story which, as dawn comes, she leaves unfinished.

"Will you let me live to finish the tale?" she asks.

"Of course", replies the king, "I must know what happens next".

Zinaida Serebriakova's 140th Birthday

Russian-born French painter Zinaida Yevgenyevna Serebriakova / Зинаи́да Евге́ньевна Серебряко́ва (1884-1967), born on this day in 1884, 140 years ago, was the First Famous Female Russian Artist.

Zinaida Serebriakova left an indelible mark on her nation’s culture through masterful paintings of the contemporary life and landscapes of her Russian homeland.

Serebriakova was born on an estate in the Kursk Province of Russia (present-day Ukraine) into a lineage full of respected artists.

Anton Chekhov: "Only one who loves can remember so well"

Anton Pavlovich Chekhov / Антон Павлович Чехов (1860-1904) was a Russian playwright and short-story writer.

His career as a playwright produced four classics, and his best short stories are held in high esteem by writers and critics.

Along with Henrik Ibsen and August Strindberg, Chekhov is often referred to as one of the three seminal figures in the birth of early modernism in the theatre.

Chekhov was a physician by profession.

"Medicine is my lawful wife", he once said, "and literature is my mistress".

• "Il ruolo dell'artista è porre domande, non fornire risposte".

• "The role of the artist is to ask questions, not answer them".

Monument to Anton Chekhov and Lady with the Dog | Yalta, Crimea, Ukraine

Igor Levashov [Игорь Левашов] 1964 | Flower painter

Born near Moscow, Russian painter Игорь Левашов entered the School for Young Painters in 1997 and the world-famed Sourykoff Institute in Moscow in 1984.

He finished his formal training at the Royal Academy of Modern Art in the Hague in 1996.

In this age he discovered his love and passion for flowers.

His detailed paintings are done in oil in a one-time-session.

Andre Kohn, 1972 | Ladies and hats

André Kohn, Russian painter, was born in Stalingrad, but was raised in the southernmost region of the Former Soviet Union near the Caspian Sea.

He spent the first 12 years of his life surrounded by nature before moving with his family to Moscow in 1984.

The precise convergence of three dynamic forces-culture, environment and talent-combined to produce one of the most collected figurative painters on the American art scene today.

Igor Kozlovsky and Marina Sharapova

Igor Kozlovsky /b. 1956, Slobodskoi, Kirov Region, Russia.

Marina Sharapova /b. 1960, Leningrad, Sankt-Petersburg, Russia.

Igor and Marina are husband and wife artistic team, working together on the same canvas. Artists, designers, interior architects.

Working as a husband-and-wife team, the Russian-born duo Igor Kozlovsky and Marina Sharapova collaborate on each painting.

Nikolay Dubovskoy | Romantic painter

Nikolay Nikanorovich Dubovskoy / Николай Никанорович Дубовской (1859-1918) was a Russian landscape painter, associated with the Peredvizhniki.

Together with Isaac Levitan, he helped create what came to be known as the "Landscape of Mood".

He displayed artistic talent at an early age; copying illustrations from Niva and other popular magazines.