Moscow 1846-1920 Petrograd (St. Petersburg)

Vladimir Egorovich Makovskii painted primarily genre scenes. His works, based on the serious and careful observation of the lives of simple people, represent one of the more typical examples of Russian genre painting of the second half of the nineteenth century. From 1861 to 1866 Makovskii studied with E. S. Sorokin and S. K. Zarianko at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture, and Architecture. (He taught there twenty years later, from 1882 to 1894.) In 1873 he became a member of the Academy and joined the Itinerants' art exhibitions, eventually becoming one of the Circle's leaders and thus linking his creative life with the group. Makovskii headed from 1894 through 1916 the genre painting studio affiliated with the Higher Art School of the Petersburg Academy of Arts. A painter of genre scenes and portraits, he also illustrated the literary works of N.V. Gogol.

"Vladimir Makovskii - one of the best and most fundamental of Russian artists.... He is a worthy friend, successor and follower of Perov.... His essential mastery and skill have always manifested themselves in the depiction of city life" (famed Russian art critic V.V. Stasov).