Igor Galanin began as an artist in Soviet Russia by illustrating children's books and designing sets for the Moscow ballet theater. His desire for a career as an artist in the Western tradition took him and his young family to Rome, where he had his first solo exhibition in 1972. Upon arriving that same year in the United States, he had shows in some small and lovely places for example, an exhibit at the Red Barn Gallery on Fisher's Island.

He was then selected to participate in a Young Artist's exhibit in Boston's Rose Museum in 1975. This led to his first New York Group show at Andre Emmerich Gallery and then to a long association with Jean Aberbach (Aberbach Gallery) and LIndsay Findlay (David Findlay Gallery). He has also exhibited throughout the United States, and occasionally in Europe. His art is in leading private, corporate, museum and university collection in the United States, Europe, Japan, and South America.

With a surreal style combining Pop images from the paintings of Richard Lindner and Cubist work of Max Ernst and Marc Chagall, he was born in Moscow, Russia. He lived in Russia and Italy and in 1972, emigrated to the United States, becoming a citizen in 1983.