Mikhail Shemyakin is a Russian-American painter, stage designer, jewel designer, a theater painter, sculptor and publisher.   He is one of the most recognized Russian artists.

He studied at the Art School at the I.Repin Institute of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture (1957-1961). Expelled from USSR (1971). At first he lived in Paris, then in United States, New York (1981) and Klaverak (1991). Enter back into USSR Mikhail Shemyakin allowed only in 1989. He created Institute of Philosophy and Psychology of Art in Hudson (USA). He returned to France, where he settled near city of Chateauroux (2007).  Mikhail Shemyakin is an honorary doctor of a number of higher educational institutions in Russia and abroad. The range in which Mikhail Shemyakin works is very broad: from drawings to monumental sculpture, theater and cinema. The subjects of his work are also diverse: from the theater grotesque to metaphysical images. ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​