Nikolai Makarov left Russia in 1979, with his mother, I believe. Now he occupies several hundred metres of loft-space in Berlin's Wedding district, plus a tremendous roof-garden. His paintings - portraits, cityscapes, deriving perhaps (I didn't ask) from photos but heavy on the sfumato - will be shown at Triumph Gallery, Moscow, next month; next year, he shows at the Tretyakov Gallery and, I believe, Russian Museum.