Born in 1983 and of Pakistani descent, Salman Toor studied painting and drawing at Ohio Wesleyan University and received his MFA from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn. Enamored with the works of the masters, Toor spent years "studiously poring over and copying the works of Rococo, Baroque, and Neoclassical-era artists like Caravaggio, Peter Paul Rubens, Anthony van Dyck, and Jean-Antoine Watteau" . The artist has stated of his pursuit of academic painting: "I wanted to be as good as the white old masters" .