Aleksei Petrovich Tkachev was born in Chugunovka, Bryansk region, on September 11, 1925. He studied at the Moscow International Art School from 1939 to 1945 under G. Riazhsky and at the Moscow Art Institute/Surikov Institute from 1945 to 1951 under S. Gerasimov and F. Modorov. He began exhibiting his works in 1948.