Ivan Argunov

Ivan Argunov was born in Saint Petersburg in 1753. He was a serf belonging to Count Sheremetev and had grown up in the family of his uncle, Semyon Mikhaylovich Argunov, who was a steward of princess Cherkassky and later a majordomo for count Sheremetev. He showed an early talent for painting and was admitted to the Imperial Academy of Arts in 1762, where he studied under Andrey Matveyev, a court painter, and later under Ivan Vishnyakov, a landscape painter. He won several medals for his works, such as "The Jewish Tailor" (1764) and "The Miser" (1765), which depicted the life of the Jewish people in Russia. He also created some religious paintings, such as "The Judas Kiss" (1766) and "Christ Before the People" (1774), which expressed his sympathy for the oppressed and suffering. He became an academician in 1769 and a professor in 1778. He painted many portraits of the members of the royal family and the nobility, as well as historical and cultural figures. He was especially skilled in depicting the details of clothing, jewelry, and furniture. He also painted some cityscapes and landscapes, influenced by the Italian vedutisti, who painted realistic views of cities. He traveled to several European countries, such as Italy, Germany, and France, and painted many views of their cities and monuments. He also painted some scenes of the Russian countryside and the villages. He was one of the most popular and successful Russian painters of his time, and received many awards and honors from the Academy of Arts and the Empress Catherine II. He died in Saint Petersburg in 1795. His works are displayed in many museums and galleries in Russia and abroad. He is regarded as one of the pioneers of the cityscape genre in Russian painting.