Aleksei Belykh was born June 3, 1923 in the village of Krutets, Oriol region of Russia. Even as a young boy he dreamed of becoming an artist but World War II interfered with his plans. He moved to Moscow to enter the Military Academy and in 1947 he began his work as a designer at the Moscow factory, The Red Textile Workers, while he continued to paint at an amateur painter’s studio. In 1952, Belykh took part in the All-Union Exhibition of Amateur Artists and was highly praised by critics. After visiting the Tretyakov Gallery, he gave up the idea of a military career to follow his true desires. He entered the Surikov Institute in 1952 where he was taught by the professors Reshetnikov, I.I. Orlov, P.D. Pokarzhevsky, and V.G. Tsyplakov. As a student, Belykh visited the Baltic Republics, Siberia, and Lake Baikal. The grandeur and scale of the Bratskaya Hydro-Electric Plant was the inspiration for his diploma work, First Builders of Bratskaya Electric Power Station. Following graduation, Belykh returned to Kostroma where he worked as a teacher and later as a professor at the Kostroma College of Art. In 1964 Belykh created a number of canvases depicting people in the lumber industry. His portraits reflect images of strong Soviet people and seek to demonstrate the correlation between man, nature and labor. In 1965 Belykh was awarded the title of ‘Honored Painter of Russia’ for his contributions to the art world. He was a participant in many exhibitions both at home and abroad and had several solo exhibitions. His artworks can now be found in the collections of several Soviet museums and the Fleischer Museum in Scottsdale, Arizona as well as in private collections in Japan, France, and the United States