Michael Sofroniou was born in South London in 1957 and has drawn and painted since childhood. In 1986, a move to the Cotswolds marked the beginning of his professional painting career. Settling with his family in the village of Little Barrington, he began working full-time from his studio, immersing himself in the surrounding landscape and still life.
His work has been exhibited at prestigious venues including the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition and in two joint shows at the John Davies Gallery in the 1990s. Sofroniou has also regularly shown at the Mall Galleries in London, through societies such as the New English Art Club, the Royal Society of British Artists, and the Royal Institute of Oil Painters, as well as at the Llewellyn Alexander Gallery and the Russell Gallery.
Alongside his studio practice, Sofroniou has maintained a deep and lasting connection with the theatre. Early in his career, he worked as a prop assistant on the Royal Shakespeare Company's landmark 1980 production of Nicholas Nickleby, sketching from the wings each night. This experience culminated in a full season as Artist in Residence at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in 1990, during which he created nearly 1,000 drawings and paintings-several of which are now held in the V&A collection. Exhibitions of this work were held in Stratford-upon-Avon, the Barbican in London, and Newcastle.