Russian Artist Vasiliy Polenov (1844-1927)
148 JPG | Up to (6300x3160) | 88 MB
148 JPG | Up to (6300x3160) | 88 MB
A native of St. Petersburg, Polenov studied under Pavel Chistyakov and in the Imperial Academy of Arts from 1863 to 1871. He was classmate and close friend to Rafail Levitsky, fellow Peredvizhniki artist and famous photographer. Their letters which remain today in Polenov's house museum are an interesting account of the many art exhibitions, movements and artists of their day.
As bachelors, Polenov and Levitsky lived and worked together in "Devich'e Pole" (the name of the street "Maiden's Field"), in an attic of the Olsufevsky House (the home of Rafail Levitsky's future wife Anna Vasilevna Olsufevsky). This house is illustrated by Polenov in his painting “Grandmother's garden” (1878).