Mikhail Ivanovich Belsky (Russian: Михаил Иванович Бельский; 1753, St. Petersburg - 29 May 1794, St. Petersburg) was a Russian painter.

Biography

His father, Ivan Ivanovich Belsky, was a history painter and Academician at the Imperial Academy of Arts.Profile of М. I. Belsky
@ the Russian Academy of Sciences. In 1770, the Academy awarded him a silver medal for his outstanding classwork. His primary instructors there were Anton Losenko and Dmitry Levitzky.Biography from the ''Русский биографический словарь''
@ Russian WikiSource In 1773, together with the engraver,

Gavriil Skorodumov Gavriil Ivanovich Skorodumov (russian: Гавриил Иванович Скородумов; 12 March 1755 – 12 July 1792) was a Russian engraver, draftsman, and painter, best known for his stipple prints. Closely associated with the Florentin ...

, he was awarded a travel grant to study abroad, in London. They received 300 Rubles per year, and letters of recommendation. When they arrived, they were placed under the patronage of Count , the Russian Envoy. Classes at the

Royal Academy of Arts The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly in London. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its purpo ...

were open to them, they were able to copy the

Old Masters In art history, "Old Master" (or "old master")Old Masters De ...

, attend lectures and travel throughout the provinces. In 1776, they were scheduled to continue their travels, but Skorodumov chose to remain in London. Belsky went to Paris and became a student of Jean-Baptiste Greuze in 1780, at his father's expense. Very little is known of his life beyond that point, except that he returned to Russia and worked as a portrait painter in St. Petersburg. Few of his paintings have been identified with any certainty and most are believed to be in the possession of their subject's families.

Biography

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Further reading