Olga's Gallery

Alexey Gavrilovich Venetsianov was born to the family of a merchant of Greek origin. He entered the state service in early 1800s and was transferred to St. Petersburg, where in his spare time he began to study art; he copied pictures in the Hermitage, painted friends. He got acquainted with the outstanding painter of his time Vladimir Borovikovsky and for some period lived in his house as a disciple. He tried to work as a freelance portraitist, but had little commissions. In 1811, the Board of the Academy of Arts awarded him the title of an Academician for his 2 works: Self-Portrait. and Portrait of K. I. Golovachevsky and the Younger Pupils of the Academy.

In 1819, wishing to devote himself wholly to art, Venetsianov left the service, bought the village of Safonkovo in the Tver province, and settled there. He decided to paint the surrounding life as it was. In the 1820s, he created many canvases in which he followed his idea. These works determined his contribution into Russian art.  He painted portraits of peasants, scenes of rural life; he depicted them truthfully, with kindness, but rather sentimentally. With his pictures In the Fields. Spring. (1827),  Harvesting. Summer. (1827),  Sleeping Herd-Boy. (1824) and others he was the first to depict peasants’ life in Russian art. His works were of great success at the exhibition of 1824, and enjoyed good critics in press.