Vasily Polenov

Vasily Polenov was a Russian realistic landscape painter and humanist who was influenced by the Peredvizhniki movement and European art. He studied at the Imperial Academy of Arts under Pavel Chistyakov and became friends with Ilya Repin and Rafail Levitsky. He traveled extensively in Europe and the Middle East, where he painted scenes of historical and biblical significance. He also participated in the Russo-Turkish War as a war artist. He joined the Peredvizhniki in 1878 and exhibited his works with them. He was admired by Pavel Tretyakov, who bought many of his paintings for his gallery. Polenov's landscapes were noted for their poetic and atmospheric quality, as well as their realistic depiction of Russian nature and rural life. He also painted portraits, genre scenes, and religious subjects. He was a professor at the Academy of Arts from 1892 and taught many prominent Russian artists, such as Isaac Levitan, Konstantin Korovin, and Mikhail Nesterov. He was also involved in stage design, decorating Savva Mamontov's mansion in Abramtsevo and his private opera. He was a philanthropist and a social activist, who founded a school, a hospital, and a theater in his estate of Polenovo, where he lived with his large family. He died there in 1927 at the age of 83.