About the artist:

Born in Moscow, Russia in 1937, Elya Peker has lived in the United States since 1972, becoming a naturalized citizen in 1980. He paints still lives, predominantly of flowers, in the tradition of the 17th Century Dutch and Flemish Masters. Many of his works can be found in replicas around the world, produced without the artist's consent. Showing an affinity toward art at an early age, he began taking drawing and painting classes at age eleven, and entered the Moscow Art Institute in 1951 to study theatrical set design. One of his teachers was the designer for the Bolshoi Theater. As a graduation project he designed the set for Verdi's opera Rigoletto, and in 1956 received his diploma. After graduation he worked for fifteen years as a graphic artist for an encyclopedia publisher. During an extensive trip to Central Europe, he visited the Vatican Museum, Versailles, the Louvre, the Modern Museum in Paris, the villages of Barbizon and Monte Carlo. He also went to museums in Brussels and Copenhagen, the Rijks Museum in Amsterdam, the Van Gogh Museum and Rembrandt's home. Peker worked as a commercial artist in New York City from 1972 to 1988, dedicating all his time to fine art thereafter, showing his works at exhibitions in New York, Switzerland, China and other countries. Collectors of Peker's works include Joseph A. Brodsky, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature; the late Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Emil Wolf, Frank L. Angella, and many others. He is a member of the American Biographical Institute and recipient of their Gold Record Achievement Award 1995, 20th Century Achievement Award 1995, and International Cultural Diploma Honor in 1996. He is listed, among others, in Who's Who in the World, 1996-2008; Who's Who in America, 1997-2008; Who's Who in the East, 1995-2006; Dictionary of International Biography, 1997-2008.