Ivan Stepanovych Marchuk, born May 12, 1936 in Moskalivka, Ukraine, was the son of a weaver. He studied applied art in Lviv, Ukraine, until 1965, and later worked in Kyiv. Marchuk belonged to the Nonconformists (underground artists) of the Soviet period when Social Realism was the style dictated by the government. In 1989 he left USSR for the U.S.A., Canada, and Australia, where he achieved some success. After witnessing the September 11, 2001 attacks in New York, Marchuk returned to Kyiv. Marchuk was well received in independent Ukraine and in 1997 became a recipient of the prestigious Taras Shevchenko award. A Museum in his name is to be constructed in Kyiv.

Marchuk is a contemporary Ukrainian painter. He was recently listed among the 100 living geniuses. Marchuk invented a unique way of painting his pictures, which he calls "dabbing-on", thus creating an unusual effect of luminescence in his works.

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