Ülo Sooster lived from 1924 - 1970. Born and trained in Estonia, the enigmatic artist Sooster spent much of the 1940s in a Soviet labor camp. He moved to Moscow in the late 50s and began making works in the underground art movement there that are distinguished by his predisposition toward Surrealist landscapes. These were inspired in part by the art of Max Ernst, Magritte, and Picasso. He died at the age of 45, hence his career was short and his works are extremely rare. His influence as a teacher was significant; perhaps his most famous student was the conceptualist Ilya Kabakov. Widely collected in Russia, Scandinavia, and the Baltic countries, his art is little known outside of those countries and a discreet coterie of private collectors.