Pyotr Ivanovich Shchukin (1853 – 12 October 1912) was an

art collector A private collection is a privately owned collection of works (usually artworks) or valuable items. In a museum or art gallery context, the term signifies that a certain work is not owned by that institution, but is on loan from an individual ...

who built an important collection of Russian ancient art and artifacts and owned several

impressionist Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by visible brush strokes, open Composition (visual arts), composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage ...

masterpieces.

Early life and family

Pyotr Ivanovich Shchukin was born in 1853, one of ten children"The man who loved Monet: Russia's greatest art collector" by Nancy Durrant, ''Saturday Review'', ''The Times'', 15 October 2016, pp. 8-9. of Ivan Vassilievitch Shchukin, a self-made Moscow merchant in the textile trade from an

Old Believer Old Believers or Old Ritualists (Russian: староверы, ''starovery'' or старообрядцы, ''staroobryadtsy'') is the common term for several religious groups, which maintain the old liturgical and ritual practices of the Russian ...

background who acquired a wealth of 4 million gold rubles, and his wife Ekaterina Shchukin, the daughter of Pyotr Konovich Botkin, a tea merchant and patron of the arts. I.V. Shchukin and Sons became one of the largest textile companies in Russia.

Art collecting

Shchukin built an important collection of Russian ancient art and artifacts and owned several impressionist masterpieces. His younger brother,

Sergei Shchukin Sergei Ivanovich Shchukin (; 10 January 1936) was a Russian businessman who became an art collector, mainly of French Impressionist and Post-Impressionist art. Early life and family Sergei Ivanovich Shchukin was born on in Moscow, one of ten c ...

, was also a noted art collector while his brother Dimitri Shchukin assembled "Moscow's best collection of Old Masters" that eventually entered the

Pushkin Museum The Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts (, abbreviated as , ''GMII'') is the largest museum of European art in Moscow. It is located in Volkhonka street, just opposite the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour. The International musical festival Sviatos ...

. Another brother,

Ivan Ivan () is a Slavic male given name, connected with the variant of the Greek name (English: John) from Hebrew meaning 'God is gracious'. It is associated worldwide with Slavic countries. The earliest person known to bear the name was the B ...

, also collected art. He was a customer of French art dealer

Paul Durand-Ruel Paul Durand-Ruel (; 31 October 1831 – 5 February 1922) was a French art dealer associated with the Impressionists and the Barbizon School. Being the first to support artists such as Claude Monet, Camille Pissarro, and Pierre-Auguste Renoir, he ...

and accompanied his brother Sergei on buying trips to Paris.House of modern masterpieces: Shchukin at Fondation Louis Vuitton.
Jackie Wullschlager, ''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and also published digitally that focuses on business and economic Current affairs (news format), current affairs. Based in London, the paper is owned by a Jap ...

'', 21 October 2016. Retrieved 22 October 2016. When Shchukin was blackmailed by a former mistress and needed money to pay her off, he sold his Impressionist paintings to Sergei rather than sell them back to Durand-Ruel for less.

Death

Shchukin died on 12 October 1912.

References

External links

* *https://artinvestment.ru/en/news/artnews/20110212_collections.html *https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2011/aug/04/beverly-whitney-kean-obituary {{DEFAULTSORT:Shchukin, Pyotr 1853 births 1912 deaths Businesspeople from the Russian Empire Art collectors from the Russian Empire Businesspeople in textiles