Nikolay Petrovich Bogdanov-Belsky (; – 19 February 1945)
was a Russian painter.
Life
Bogdanov was born in the village of
Shitiki in
Smolensk Governorate
Smolensk Governorate () was an administrative-territorial unit ('' guberniya'') of the Tsardom of Russia, the Russian Empire, and the Russian SFSR. It existed, with interruptions, between 1708 and 1929.
Smolensk Governorate, together with seven o ...
in 1868, then he added to his surname "Belsky" in accordance with the name of
the Uyezd where he was born. He studied at the elementary school where his teacher was , then studied icon-painting at the
Troitse-Sergiyeva Lavra in 1883, modern painting at the
Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture in 1884 to 1889, and at the
Imperial Academy of Arts in
St. Petersburg from 1894 to 1895. He worked and studied in private studios in
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
in the late 1890s.
Bogdanov-Belsky was active in St. Petersburg. After 1921, he worked exclusively in
Riga
Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...
,
Latvia
Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...
. He became a member of several prominent societies in including the
Peredvizhniki from 1895, and the from 1909 (of which he was a founding member and chairman from 1913 to 1918).
Bogdanov-Belsky painted mostly genre paintings, especially of the education of peasant children, portraits, and impressionistic landscapes studies. He became pedagogue and academician in 1903. He was an active Member of the Academy of Arts in 1914. Realist art was strongly disfavored by the
Soviet Union
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
, compelling the artist to relocate to
Riga
Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...
in 1921. Due to illness, he was taken to a Berlin clinic and was killed on February 19, 1945 as a result of Allied bombing. He was buried at the
Berlin-Tegel Russian Orthodox Cemetery.
He was a member of the Russian
Fraternitas Arctica in Riga.
Selected paintings
File:BogdanovBelsky NikolayYusupov.jpg, ''Prince Nicholas Yusupov'', 1911
File:Reading a letter (Bogdanov-Bogdanov-Belsky).jpeg, ''Reading a Letter'', 1892
File:BogdanovBelsky UstnySchet.jpg, Mental Arithmetic, in the Rachinsky School, 1895
File:Voskresnoye_chteniye_v_selskoy_shkole.jpg, Sunday reading in a village school, 1895
File:1897 Bogdanov-Belsky At School Doors.jpg, At the School Doors, 1897
See also
*
List of Russian artists
References
External links
ArtFira
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bogdanov-Belsky, Nikolay
19th-century painters from the Russian Empire
Russian male painters
20th-century Russian painters
1868 births
1945 deaths
Peredvizhniki
Deaths by airstrike during World War II
Soviet civilians killed in World War II
19th-century male artists from the Russian Empire
20th-century Russian male artists
Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture alumni
Imperial Academy of Arts alumni
Burials at the Berlin-Tegel Russian Orthodox Cemetery