This avant garde French table is a statement of arrival in America Art Explained As the son of artistic parents, Metlans creativity was fostered at a young age. Anatoly Metlan was born in 1964 in Yalta, a city in southern Ukraine on the northern coast of the Black Sea. In describing his technique for capturing the female figure, Metlan says he begins with an image formed in his mind, then sets up a composition using a model.