Grigory Silovich Ostrovsky (1756–1814) was a Russian portrait

painter Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...

active during the 18th century in the

Kostroma Governorate Kostroma Governorate (russian: link=no, Костромская губерния, ''Kostromskaya guberniya'') was an administrative division (a '' guberniya'') of the Russian Empire and the Russian SFSR, which existed from 1796 to 1929. Its adminis ...

Career

Almost nothing is known of Ostrovsky's life, and little is known about his career; the only paintings which can be definitively traced to him are 17 signed and dated

portrait A portrait is a portrait painting, painting, portrait photography, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expressions are predominant. The intent is to display the likeness, Personality type ...

s which were discovered in the 1970s by

Savva Yamshchikov Savva (Savely) Vasilyevich Yamshchikov (russian: Са́вва (Саве́лий) Васи́льевич Ямщико́в; October 8, 1938 – July 19, 2009) was a leading expert on Russian provincial art, particularly medieval icon painting and p ...

. All of the paintings were made in the 1770s and 1780s and come from the Neronovo estate, located about 25 km SE of

Soligalich Soligalich (russian: Солига́лич) is a town and the administrative center of Soligalichsky District in Kostroma Oblast, Russia, located on the right bank of the Kostroma River. Population: History It originated as an important center ...

. In the eighteenth century this belonged to the Cherevin family, and most of the portraits are of members of the family. Stylistically, the paintings appear to be the work of an itinerant painter; there is a possibility, too, that he may have studied

icon painting An icon () is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, in the cultures of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Catholic churches. They are not simply artworks; "an icon is a sacred image used in religious devotion". The most ...

. Presumably, Ostrovsky originally was from

Veliky Ustyug Veliky Ustyug (russian: Вели́кий У́стюг) is a town in Vologda Oblast, Russia, located in the northeast of the oblast at the confluence of the Sukhona and Yug Rivers. As of the 2010 Census, its population was 31,665. Veliky U ...

. Ostrovsky's paintings are currently held by the Soligalich Regional Studies Museum in

References

Olga's Gallery
* 18th-century painters from the Russian Empire Russian male painters 19th-century painters from the Russian Empire 1756 births 1814 deaths People from Veliky Ustyug Russian people of Ukrainian descent 19th-century male artists from the Russian Empire {{Russia-painter-stub