Alexander Alekseevich Borisov, a renowned Russian artist and the first painter of the Arctic, was also a writer, public figure, and explorer of polar lands. He made a significant contribution to the development of transport and economic exploration of the North.

Born in 1866 in a peasant family in the village of Gluboky Ruchey in the Vologda region. At the age of sixteen, he became a student at the icon painting workshop of the Solovetsky Monastery. His works were noticed by the President of the Academy of Arts, Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich, and General Andrei Andreyevich Bogolyubov, a collector of paintings. With their support, Borisov went to St. Petersburg, where from 1888 to 1892 he studied at the Academy of Arts under the guidance of Ivan Ivanovich Shishkin. His achievements were recognized with two small and one large silver medals. Borisov was also a student and continuer of the traditions of Arkhip Ivanovich Kuindzhi.

In the summer of 1894, Borisov accompanied S.Yu. Witte on the steamer "Lomonosov" on a trip to the North. In 1900, he set off for Novaya Zemlya with eight companions, where the expedition lasted fourteen months. The polar explorers built a house at the western entrance to the Matotchkin Shar strait and set off on the "Mechta" to the Kara Sea.

In April 1901, Borisov, along with zoologist assistant T.E. Timofeev and Nenets Ustin Kanyukov, set off to the Kara side on three dog sleds. The steamer "Pakhtusov," which happened to be in the area, took them to Arkhangelsk. Thanks to Borisov, many names of Russian artists, such as Shishkin, Kuindzhi, Kramskoy, Vasnetsov, Vereshchagin, Repin, and the glacier of Tretyakov, appeared on the map of Novaya Zemlya. One of the main results of the expedition was hundreds of sketches and studies that formed the basis for the monumental canvases created by Borisov after his return. He described the results of the expeditions in the book "In the Land of Cold and Death," published in 1907.

In 1902, at the invitation of the Vienna Society of Artists, Borisov organized an exhibition in Vienna. The success of his paintings allowed for exhibitions in Berlin, Hamburg, Cologne, Düsseldorf, and Paris. The French government awarded him the Order of the Legion of Honor. In 1907, his exhibition in London was visited by polar explorer Fridtjof Nansen, who presented Borisov with the Order of Saint Olaf from the governments of Sweden and Norway. The British government awarded him the Order of the Bath. In early 1908, Borisov arrived in the USA, where his exhibition in Washington took place in the White House, making him the first Russian artist to be received by the President of the USA.