Vladimir Pronkin believes that art is more than a trade; it is a language that facilitates the expression of ideas. Pronkin was born in Tallinn, Estonia, in 1957. He studied music, as well as mathematics, before devoting himself to art and graduating from the Academy of Art, in Tallin. In 1990, he was exiled from the Soviet Union for attempting to organize a union of free artists. On January 21, 2005, in San Diego California, Pronkin experienced heart failure and clinical death. Upon being revived, he experienced a rebirth and a new faith that God had returned him to this life for a purpose: to finish his work and to make people happy with his art work. Since then, Pronkin has painted icons in churches around the world. While living in Mexico, he focused on surrealistic paintings, including a series named Casanova's Lessons. Pronkin's works are in several museums, private collections of royal families, and in the home of several presidents of various countries. Since his experience in 2005, however, he no longer works with art dealers or does exhibitions. Instead, he sells his artwork online and donates all of the proceeds to a children's hospital in Estonia, where he currently resides. He continues to use his studio in Mexico periodically, and donates the proceeds from that studio to children's education in Mexico.
