Andrei Andreevich Mylnikov was born February 22, 1919 in Pokrovsk (a.k.a. Pokrovskoe, Pokrovka - now Engels), Saratov province. He studied at the Institute of Painting, Sculpture, and Architecture/Repin Institute in the architectural department from 1937 to 1940, in the painting department from 1940 to 1946 under I. Grabar, and as a postgraduate from 1946 to 1949. He began exhibiting his works around 1946. Important shows include: ‘All-Union Art Exhibition’, Moscow, 1950. ‘All-Union Art Exhibition’, Moscow, 1951. Well-known works include: “In Peaceful fields” (1950, Russian Museum). He began teaching at the Repin Institute of Art in 1947 and became head of a creative studio in monumental art at the USSR Academy of Arts, Leningrad, in 1963. He was awarded the USSR State Prize in 1951 and 1977. He became a member of the Russian Academy of Arts in 1966. This gave him the title of “acadmician” - one of the highest honors and most prestigious titles a Russian artist can receive. He was an enormously influencial figure in the Leningrad art world in the 1950s through the 1980s. Also a monumentalist, he created some works with A. L. Korolev. He lives and works in St. Petersburg (formerly Leningrad).