Vasily Alekseyevich Volkov (Russian: Василий Алексеевич Волков; 21 March 1840,

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

– 22 April 1907,

Poltava Poltava (, ; , ) is a city located on the Vorskla, Vorskla River in Central Ukraine, Central Ukraine. It serves as the administrative center of Poltava Oblast as well as Poltava Raion within the oblast. It also hosts the administration of Po ...

) was a Russian-Ukrainian

Academic An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

painter; known primarily for portraits and historical scenes.

Biography

From 1858 to 1863, he studied at the

Imperial Academy of Fine Arts The Imperial Academy of Arts, informally known as the Saint Petersburg Academy of Arts, was an art academy in Saint Petersburg, founded in 1757 by Ivan Shuvalov, the founder of the Imperial Moscow University, under the name ''Academy of the ...

. From 1861, he was also a teacher at a local gymnasium. After graduating, he settled in Poltava.Brief biography
@ Art.ru In 1867, he was awarded the title of "Artist" (Third degree). From 1875 until his death, he taught drawing at the school. He also occasionally taught at the local

Institute for Noble Maidens An Institute for Noble Maidens () was a type of educational institution and finishing school in late Imperial Russia. It was devised by Ivan Betskoy as a female-only institution for girls of noble origin. Those were "Closed female institutes of th ...

. During this time, he also operated his own art school and exhibited with the

Peredvizhniki Peredvizhniki (, ), often called The Wanderers or The Itinerants in English, were a group of Russian realism (arts), realist artists who formed an artists' cooperative in protest of academic restrictions; it evolved into the ''Society for Trave ...

, although he never became a member. He apparently served as a

State Councillor A State Councillor of the People's Republic of China () serves as a senior vice leader within the State Council of the PRC, State Council and shares responsibilities with the Vice Premier of China, Vice Premiers in assisting the Premier of China, ...

. In 1907, he died of

cardiac asthma Cardiac asthma is the medical condition of intermittent wheezing, coughing, and shortness of breath that is associated with underlying congestive heart failure (CHF). Symptoms of cardiac asthma are related to the heart's inability to effectively a ...

. Among his best-known portraits are those of Tsars Alexander II and Alexander III, Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich and his fellow painters,

Nikolai Yaroshenko Nikolai Alexandrovich Yaroshenko (; ; – ) was a Russian painter of Ukrainian origin. Yaroshenko painted many portraits, genre paintings, and drawings. His genre paintings depict torture, struggles, fruit, bathing suits, and other hardships ...

and

Leonid Pozen Leonid Vladimirovitch Pozen (born February 26, 1849, Obolon, Poltava Oblast, Obolon, Poltava Oblast — January 8, 1921, Petrograd (now Saint Petersburg)) was a Russians, Russo-Ukrainians, Ukrainian sculptor and politician. Most of his works w ...

. However, he is largely remembered today on the basis of one work. In 1901 his painting, "

Peter the Great Peter I (, ; – ), better known as Peter the Great, was the Sovereign, Tsar and Grand Prince of all Russia, Tsar of all Russia from 1682 and the first Emperor of Russia, Emperor of all Russia from 1721 until his death in 1725. He reigned j ...

Visiting

Pavlo Polubotok Pavlo Polubotok (, , ; born around 1660, died on 29 December 1724), was a Ukrainian Cossack political and military leader and Acting Hetman of Left-bank Ukraine between 1722 and 1724. Biography Pavlo Polubotok was born around 1660 in Borz ...

Peter and Paul Fortress The Peter and Paul Fortress () is the original citadel of Saint Petersburg, Russia, founded by Peter the Great in 1703 and built to Domenico Trezzini's designs from 1706 to 1740 as a star fortress. Between the first half of the 1700s and early ...

in 1724" was presented by the Peredvizhniki in Moscow. Peter died 41 days after visiting Polubotok, who ominously forecast that "Soon, very soon, the judgment of God will judge Peter and Paul!". Public response to the painting was immediate and positive. It was praised in ''

Niva Niva or NIVA can refer to: Places * Niva (river) in the Murmansk Oblast, Russia * Nivå, a town in Denmark * Nivå station, railway station in Denmark * Niva (Prostějov District), a village in the Czech Republic * Niva, Iran, a village in Kurdista ...

'' and several other periodicals, including ' (Sparks), a satirical magazine. The exhibition catalog sold out and the painting was reproduced as postcards; black and white, color prints and hand-painted versions (which are valuable collectors' items). The current whereabouts of the original are unknown. It is said that Volkov sold it to a visiting Englishman not long after it was exhibited, but there is no record of it being taxed or having left the country; something that was usually documented very meticulously."Mirror of Fate"
@ Ozmns.narod Most of the reproductions were apparently made from a copy.

References

External links

Postcards
@ Delcampe (artist misidentified as Valentin Volkov) {{DEFAULTSORT:Volkov, Vasily 1840 births 1907 deaths 19th-century painters from the Russian Empire Russian male painters Portrait painters from the Russian Empire Painters from Saint Petersburg Russian history painters Peredvizhniki 19th-century male artists from the Russian Empire