Alexander Mikhailovich Gerasimov was born and raised in the small provincial town of Kozlov, Tambov Governorate, in the central part of Russia. Founded in 1635, the town is located on the hilly bank of the Lesnoy Voronezh River. At the turn of the 20th century, the town had about 40,000 residents and stood out with its numerous beautiful churches. According to the artist’s memoirs, the entire town consisted of one-story wooden houses with three windows, decorated with carved platbands, with the exception of a few three-story houses. There were also some occasional two-story houses on the main streets.

Kozlov practiced a quite traditional, orthodox way of living.