constantin
makovsky
B. 1839 Moscow, Russia
D. 1915 St. Petersburg, Russia
The Artist
Biography
Constantin Makovsky
B. 1839 Moscow, Russia D. 1915 St. Petersburg, Russia
Makovsky was an influential Russian painter, affiliated with the “Peredvizhniki (Wanderers)”. Many of his historical paintings, such as The Russian Bride’s Attire (1889), showed an idealized view of Russian life of prior centuries.
He is often considered a representative of Academic art.
Konstantin Makovsky was born in Moscow. His father was the Russian art figure and amateur painter, Yegor Makovsky. His mother was a composer, and she hoped her son would one day follow in her footsteps. His younger brothers Vladimir and Nikolay and his sister Alexandra also went on to become painters.
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In 1851 Makovsky entered the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture where he became the top student, easily getting all the available awards. His teachers were Karl Bryullov and Vasily Tropinin. Makovsky’s inclinations to Romanticism and decorative effects can be explained by the influence of Bryullov.
In 1858 Makovsky entered the Imperial Academy of Arts in Saint Petersburg. From 1860 he participated in the Academy’s exhibitions with paintings such as Curing of the Blind (1860) and Agents of the False Dmitry kill the son of Boris Godunov (1862).
Makovsky became a member of a co-operative (artel) of artists led by Ivan Kramskoi, typically producing Wanderers paintings on everyday life (Widow 1865, Herring-seller 1867, etc.). From 1870 he was a founding member of the Society for Traveling Art Exhibitions and continued to work on paintings devoted to everyday life. He exhibited his works at both the Academia exhibitions and the Traveling Art Exhibitions of the Wanderers.
In the 1880s he became a fashioned author of portraits and historical paintings. At the World’s Fair of 1889 in Paris he received the Large Gold Medal for his paintings Death of Ivan the Terrible, The Judgement of Paris, and Demon and Tamara. He was one of the most highly appreciated and highly paid Russian artists of the time.
His works are in the Hermitage Museum and the Russian State Museum, St. Petersburg; the Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow; Fine arts Museum of San Francisco; Hillwood Museum and Gardens, Washington D.C.
Available Artwork
Boyrina
Oil on canvas
65 x 54 cm. (26 x 21.6 in.)
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