Biography

[] Born on 12 July 1955 in Vitebsk, Belrus

[] Jewish parents Bella and Arkadiy

[] Despite government anti-semitism, the family practiced many Jewish traditions and risked imprisonment

[] Graduated with honor from high school in Vitebsk

[] Studied in the graphics and arts department at the Vitebsk Education Institute

[] Graduated from Vitebsk Art School as one of their elite members

[] His early artistic work was very influenced by Chagall and Modigliani

[] In 1975 Afremov met his wife to be, Inessa Kagan, who he married the following year

[] In 1977 his first son Dmitry was born

[] Worked as a label designer in a local beer and liquor factory

[] He was not allowed to participate in government exhibitions because of his Jewish roots and was not allowed to be a member of the local art associations

[] He lived close to the area where the Chernobyl disaster happened and was strongly affected

[] Experienced serious discrimination and insults for his Jewish heritage

[] On 17 May 1990 the Afremov family entered Israel

[] Because he was a recent Russian immigrant, the locals considered his work as having little value

[] During the early 1990s, Leonid Afremov was mainly working with watercolors and acrylic

[] In 1994, out of extreme desperation, his 16-year-old son Dmitry tried to sell Leonid’s paintings door to door around the neighborhood, This practice proved itself very effective

[] During the late 1990s, Leonid was constantly holding exhibitions in Russian community centers around Israel; everywhere else the doors were closed because he was a Russian immigrant

[] In March 2001, Afremov's gallery was completely vandalized. Dozens of paintings were destroyed

[] In January 2002 moved to USA

[] Found galleries that liked and purchased paintings, however they only took what kind of judaic themes and musician portraits. Afremov found himself forced to paint only limited themes and subjects for living

[] Leonid had good opportunities in New York but the cold climate affected his health. He was constantly struggling with arthritis and muscular pain caused by drastic temperature changes

[] Moved to Florida in April 2002

[] Tried selling his paintings on eBay, and received approval

[] Paintings were sold for hundreds and sometimes thousands of dollars and everything sold without exception

[] In March 2010, he and his family moved to Mexico

https://media.goboard.io/Leonid-Afremov-bi