Igor Tcholaria is a painter and sculptor born in 1959 in the Black Sea coastal town of Ochamchiri in the Caucasus. His artistic skills were first noticed at an early age which allowed him to attend the Sukhumi School of Art. It was there that he first discovered and came to love great early-20th century French art with the help of his teacher and mentor, artist Givi Ghergaya.?

After graduating from the Sukhumi School, he continued his studies at St Petersburg’s Mukhin Institute, spending all of his free time at the Hermitage, studying and copying the Impressionists and European Old Masters.

When perestroika started, he became one of the first artists making street portraits and was spotted by a gallery...