Ivan Grigorevich Uralov was born October 10, 1948, in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg). In 1973 he earned his diploma from the Repin Institute of Art in the monumental studio.

Between 1973 and 1996 he was a participant in more than 100 exhibits in St. Petersburg, Italy, France, Spain, Norway, Finland, Germany, Poland, the Czech Republic, the United States, and other countries.

He has been a member of the Artists’ Union of Russia since 1975. That same year he began teaching painting and composition at the Repin.

Since 1976 he has been a diplomat for the Ministry of Culture, the Artists’ Union, and the Academy of Art.

In 1979, he received the Government Laureate Prize of Russia.

Since 1979 he has been working as a monumentalist artist producing works for government assignments, subways, theaters, hotels, and libraries.

In 1994 he became the head of the Commission for Graphics, Artistic Building and Architecture for the mayor of St. Petersburg (in other words, head artist of the city).

Uralov is a member of a four-person alliance called FoRUS, and acromym for Fomin, Repin, Uralov, and Sukhov, four artists who have known each other since boyhood and worked together all of their adulthood. Adept in fresco and mosaics as well as oils, the four artists collaborate to produce monumental works. There are many murals by FoRUS in St. Petersburg restaurants, Metro stations, hotels, concert halls, and government buildings. All four men have outstanding careers as individual artists as well.

Uralov’s works are in museums in Russia and Poland, and they can also be found in private collections in Italy, Spain, Germany, France, Russia, and the United States.