Alexandr Kachkin was born and raised in Kiev. When he was young Alexandr was often read to by his father, who encouraged him to become a highly literate individual. A love of storytelling would later inspire Kachkin's character-drawn paintings. Kachkin paid tribute to his father, who died when Alexandr was a child, in a painting that epitomizes his father's bravery during the Second World War.
At the age of eighteen Kachkin began studying at the prestigious Institute of Fine Arts in Kiev and absorbed the lessons of the painterly style and the work of such artists as Goya, Daumier, Rembrandt and Velasquez. Upon graduation, however, Kachkin found the political climate of his homeland inhospitable to creativity. For years he painted commissioned portraits to earn a living while creating original works in secrecy, dreaming of displaying them in a professional gallery.
During Gorbachev's Perestroika Kachkin was given the chance to display his work in an exhibition entitled “Little Old Men of Podol”. The public responded enthusiastically and many of Kachkin's paintings were acquired by well-known private collectors.
Kachkin is not interested in a realistic portrayal of his homeland - he captures what many people feel and desire, which is a profound truth.
Alexandr KACHKIN 
