Alexander V. Belov (born 1958) is one of the brightest representatives of the St. Petersburg realistic school of painting, but his works are still little researched. Working in all genres, the artist prefers figurative and thematic easel and monumental paintings. A. В. Belov has been teaching at Ilya Repin St. Petersburg Academy of Arts for more than 30 years and has trained a a great number of professional painters. The article is dedicated to easel paintings from different periods of the artist’s work: 1990s (early period); 2000s and nowadays. Skillfully mastering the visual arts: the formal, figurative and plastic language of composition, classical drawing, the laws of color harmony, Aleksandr Vladimirovich touches on deep, philosophical themes, often resorting to allegory, symbolism, and allusion. However, the artist always remains in in line with the academic, realistic tradition. The themes of his paintings are varied they include references to scenes from life, an understanding of Russian history, and philosophical and religious quests.