Born in 1976 in Tehran, Iran, Iman Maleki was fascinated with paintings from a young age. He studied under Morteza Katouzian, the greatest realist painter in Iran, from age 15. Maleki has had many successful showings of his paintings and his most important exhibitions to date were the "Exhibition of Realist painters of Iran" in 1999 and group exhibitions in 1998 and 2003. He is considered to be one of the best realist painters in the world due to his unbelievable technique and talent.