
Alexei Stepanovich Stepanov (Russian: Алексей Степанович Степанов; 6 May 1858, in
Simferopol
Simferopol () is the second-largest city in the Crimean Peninsula. The city, along with the rest of Crimea, is internationally recognised as part of Ukraine, and is considered the capital of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea. However, it is u ...
– 5 October 1923, in
Moscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
) was a Russian
genre
Genre () is any form or type of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially-agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other ...
painter, illustrator and art teacher. He was a member of the
Peredvizhniki
Peredvizhniki ( rus, Передви́жники, , pʲɪrʲɪˈdvʲiʐnʲɪkʲɪ), often called The Wanderers or The Itinerants in English, were a group of Russian realist artists who formed an artists' cooperative in protest of academic restr ...
and a founder of the "Union of Russian Artists".
Biography

His father, who was from a noble family, served as an officer in the
Crimean War
The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia.
Geopolitical causes of the war included t ...
. His mother died not long after his birth, and his father followed in 1863, so he was taken to a special branch of the
Moscow Orphanage
The Moscow Orphanage or Foundling Home (russian: Воспитательный дом в Москве) was an ambitious project conceived by Catherine the Great and Ivan Betskoy, in the early 1760s. This idealistic experiment of the Age of Enligh ...
(for children from military families),
[Brief biography](_blank)
@ RusArtNet. located on an estate formerly owned by
Count Alexey Razumovsky.
After completing his public school education, Stepanov entered the and graduated as an official surveyor in 1879. From 1880 to 1883, he audited classes given by
Illarion Pryanishnikov
Illarion Mikhailovich Pryanishnikov (russian: Илларио́н Миха́йлович Пря́нишников; – ) was a Russian painter, one of the founders of the Peredvizhniki artistic cooperative, which broke away from the rigors ...
and
Evgraf Sorokin
Evgraf Semenovich Sorokin, or Yevgraf Semyonovich Sorokin (russian: Евгра́ф Семёнович Соро́кин; 18 December 1821, Nekrasovskoye (Bolshie Soli) – 1892, Moscow) was a Russian artist and teacher; known for historical, relig ...
at the
.
[Biographical notes](_blank)
@ Art Catalog. While there, he made the acquaintance of
Leonid Sabaneyev
Leonid Leonidovich Sabaneyev or Sabaneyeff or Sabaneev (russian: Леони́д Леони́дович Сабане́ев) (3 May 1968) was a Russian musicologist, music critic, composer and scientist. He was the son of Leonid Pavlovich Sabaney ...
, who edited the magazine ''Природа и Охота'' (Nature and Hunting),
for which Stepanov provided over a hundred drawings from 1883 to 1895.
In 1888, he began exhibiting with the Peredvizhniki and, the following year, his painting "Moose Herd" was purchased by
Pavel Tretyakov
Pavel Mikhaylovich Tretyakov (russian: Па́вел Миха́йлович Третьяко́в; 27 December 1832 – 16 December 1898) was a Russian businessman, patron of art, collector, and philanthropist who gave his name to the Tretyakov G ...
. During that same period, he became a lecturer at the "School of Fine Arts" operated by the architect
Anatoly Gunst. Shortly after,
Valentin Serov
Valentin Alexandrovich Serov (russian: Валенти́н Алекса́ндрович Серо́в; 19 January 1865 – 5 December 1911) was a Russian painter and one of the premier portrait artists of his era.
Life and work
Youth and educ ...
invited him to teach at his old alma mater, the Moscow School of Painting. He was later named a Professor and remained there until 1918.
Among his notable students there were
Sergey Gerasimov,
Boris Ioganson
Boris Vladimirovich Ioganson (russian: Борис Владимирович Иогансон, – 25 February 1973) also commonly known as B. V. Johanson, was a Russian and Soviet painter and educator.
Biography
Ioganson was born on in Moscow ...
,
Pavel Korin
Pavel Dmitriyevich Korin (russian: Павел Дмитриевич Корин; - 22 November 1967) was a Russian painter and art art conservation and restoration, restorer. He is famous for his preparational work for the unimplemented painti ...
and
Leonard Turzhansky
Leonard Viktorovich Turzhansky (russian: Леонард Викторович Туржанский; 1875 in Yekaterinburg – 1945 in Moscow) was a Russian impressionist painter.
Biography
Leonard Turzhansky was born to a family of a medical doc ...
.
In 1894, he accompanied the art collector Nikolai Medyntsev (1841-1904) and his family on a trip to Europe, visiting Germany, Northern Italy and France, where he was influenced by the
Impressionists
Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passa ...
. The following year, he married Medyntsev's daughter, Lyudmila.
In 1903, he was part of the group that defected from the Peredvizhniki to form the "Union of Russian Artists".
Two years later, he received the title of "Academician" from the
Imperial Academy of Arts
The Russian Academy of Arts, informally known as the Saint Petersburg Academy of Arts, was an art academy in Saint Petersburg, founded in 1757 by the founder of the Imperial Moscow University Ivan Shuvalov under the name ''Academy of the T ...
for his painting "Morning Greetings". From 1906 to 1914, he spent his summers at his estate in
Tver Governorate
Tver Governorate (russian: Тверская губерния, ''Tverskaya guberniya'') was an administrative division (a '' guberniya'') of the Russian Empire and Russian SFSR, which existed from 1796 until 1929. Its seat was in Tver. The governo ...
.
After 1920, he became seriously ill, but continued to work. One of his last paintings "Качели" (The Swing) was acquired by the
Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh
Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh are four museums that are operated by the Carnegie Institute headquartered in the Carnegie Institute complex in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The Carnegie Institute complex, which includes t ...
.
Selected paintings
File:Алексей С. Степанов - Деревенские качели.jpg, The Swing
File:Stepanov 008.jpg, Moose Herd
File:Stepanov 004.jpg, Morning Greetings
References
Further reading
* Vladislav Artemov, ''Алексей Степанов'' (Masters of Painting series), Белый город, 2004
* Maria Kholodovskaya, ''Алексей Степанович Степанов, 1858-1923'', Художник РСФСР, 1981
* Olga Lavrova, ''Алексей Степанович Степанов: 1858 - 1923'', Изд. Искусство, 1973
External links
Arcadja Auctions: More works by StepanovAn appreciation of Stepanov@ Plyos
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stepanov, Alexei
1858 births
1923 deaths
Genre painters
Peredvizhniki
Artists from Simferopol
Russian illustrators
Art educators
19th-century painters from the Russian Empire
Russian male painters
20th-century Russian painters
19th-century male artists from the Russian Empire
20th-century Russian male artists
Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture alumni