One of the founders of the Russian genre painting, Alexei Venetsianov, was born into a not particularly well-off merchant family in Moscow. His father traded in fruit-bushes. There is evidence that he also dealt in pictures, and this may have helped awaken the young Venetsianov’s interest in art. The future artist had his first lessons …
Stepan Pimenov, one of the great Russian sculptors of the early nineteenth century, was born the son of a humble St. Petersburg customs official. Having discovered in him the makings of an artist, his parents sent him at the age of eleven to the Academy of Arts, where he soon distinguished himself by his exceptional …
Konstantin Somov was born in St. Petersburg. His father, Andrei Somov, was curator of the StateHermitageMuseum, Saint Petersburg, editor of The Fine Arts Herald and a connoisseur of painting and etching.
Vasily Demut-Malinovsky occupies one of the leading places among the masters of Russian monumental sculpture of the first half of 19th century. His works echoed the heroic epoch of the 1812 War and were close to the thoughts and feelings of the Russian people. He was born the son of a wood-carver, in St. Petersburg. …