Ufa 1862-1942 Moscow

Between his studies with V. G. Perov, A. K. Savrasov, and I. M. Prianishnikov at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture, and Architecture (1877-1881 and 1884-1886), Mikhail Vasilievich Nesterov attended the Petersburg Academy of Arts from 1882 to 1884. He achieved membership in the Academy in 1898. In addition to participating in the Abramtsevo Art Circle and being a founding member of the Union of Russian Artists, Nesterov included his works in the exhibitions of World of Art (1899-1901) and 36 Artists (1901). Beginning in 1896, he joined the Circle of the Itinerants' art exhibitions. He executed murals in St. Vladimir's Cathedral in Kiev, in the Cathedral of the Resurrection in Petersburg, and in the Marfo-Marinsky Monastery in Moscow. A realist painter, Nesterov concentrated on religious symbolic subjects in his early works. Nesterov was also recognized in 1942 as a distinguished figure in art in the Russian Soviet Federal Republic for his work in the areas of portraiture, landscape painting, and genre scenes. He was acknowledged as one of the outstanding masters of Russian portrait painting.