Adrian Volkov

Adrian Volkov was born in 1827 as a son of a wealthy merchant. He showed an early talent for drawing and painting, and studied at the Imperial Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg. He became one of the most famous Russian genre painters and one of the first Russian artists to depict the life and customs of the Ukrainian people. He painted many scenes of rural and urban life, festivals, ceremonies, and folk dances. He also painted some portraits and landscapes. He was a friend and mentor of many young Ukrainian artists, such as Taras Shevchenko and Ivan Aivazovsky. He died in 1873 in Kiev and was buried there. He is regarded as one of the most original and influential Russian painters of the 19th century.