Vassily Maximovich Maximov (russian: Васи́лий Максимо́вич Макси́мов; – ) was a Russian painter, a prominent member of the

Peredvizhniki Peredvizhniki ( rus, Передви́жники, , pʲɪrʲɪˈdvʲiʐnʲɪkʲɪ), often called The Wanderers or The Itinerants in English, were a group of Russian realist artists who formed an artists' cooperative in protest of academic restr ...

group.

Biography

Maximov was born to a peasant family in the village of Lopino in the

Saint Petersburg Governorate Saint Petersburg Governorate (russian: Санкт-Петербу́ргская губе́рния, ''Sankt-Peterburgskaya guberniya''), or Government of Saint Petersburg, was an administrative division (a '' guberniya'') of the Tsardom of Russia ...

, near

Novaya Ladoga Novaya Ladoga (russian: Но́вая Ла́дога, lit=New Ladoga) is a town in Volkhovsky District of Leningrad Oblast, Russia, located at the point where the Volkhov River flows into Lake Ladoga, east of St. Petersburg. Population: H ...

. He became an orphan early and worked for an

Icon An icon () is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, in the cultures of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Catholic churches. They are not simply artworks; "an icon is a sacred image used in religious devotion". The most ...

painting shop, where he first learned to paint. In 1863 he entered the

Imperial Academy of Arts The Russian Academy of Arts, informally known as the Saint Petersburg Academy of Arts, was an art academy in Saint Petersburg, founded in 1757 by the founder of the Imperial Moscow University Ivan Shuvalov under the name ''Academy of the Thre ...

and in 1864 he became a member of an

Artel of Artists The St. Petersburg Artel of Artists was a cooperative association (artel) led by Russian artists during 1863–1871. It was founded in Saint Petersburg on the initiative of Ivan Kramskoi following a revolt by fourteen students in the St. Peters ...

created by P.N. Krestonovtsev by the example of

Ivan Kramskoi Ivan Nikolaevich Kramskoi (russian: Ива́н Никола́евич Крамско́й; June 8 (O.S. May 27), 1837, Ostrogozhsk – April 6 (O.S. March 24), 1887, Saint Petersburg) was a Russian painter and art critic. He was an intellectual l ...

. The artel existed only one year and was then disbanded. Maximov painted the ''Sick Child'' (1864) at that time, when received a Gold Medal of the Academia. He completed all the courses of the Academy in three years. In 1865 he (like the group of fourteen led by Ivan Kramskoi had done earlier) refused to take part in the competitions for the Major Gold Medal by Academia. He argued that he did not need to study abroad (that was a part of the prize) but rather would study the Russian village. Indeed, after graduation from the Academia he moved to the village of Shubino, in the

gubernia A governorate, gubernia, province, or government ( rus, губе́рния, p=ɡʊˈbʲɛrnʲɪjə, also romanized ; uk, губернія, huberniia), was a major and principal administrative subdivision of the Russian Empire. After the empir ...

Tver Tver ( rus, Тверь, p=tvʲerʲ) is a city and the administrative centre of Tver Oblast, Russia. It is northwest of Moscow. Population: Tver was formerly the capital of a powerful medieval state and a model provincial town in the Russian ...

, where he painted the peasant life, earning money as a painting teacher of the Princes Golenischev-Kutuzov (descendants of

Mikhail Illarionovich Kutuzov Prince Mikhail Illarionovich Golenishchev-Kutuzov ( rus, Князь Михаи́л Илларио́нович Голени́щев-Куту́зов, Knyaz' Mikhaíl Illariónovich Goleníshchev-Kutúzov; german: Mikhail Illarion Golenishchev-Kut ...

). His painting ''Grandmother's tales'' (1867) was shown at a Peredvizhniki exhibition, where it won a prize and was bought by

Pavel Tretyakov Pavel Mikhaylovich Tretyakov (russian: Па́вел Миха́йлович Третьяко́в; 27 December 1832 – 16 December 1898) was a Russian businessman, patron of art, collector, and philanthropist who gave his name to the Tretyakov Gal ...

. In 1872 he was admitted to the Peredvizhniki group, and soon became one of its most prominent and rigorous members.

Ilya Yefimovich Repin Ilya Yefimovich Repin (russian: Илья Ефимович Репин, translit=Il'ya Yefimovich Repin, p=ˈrʲepʲɪn); fi, Ilja Jefimovitš Repin ( – 29 September 1930) was a Russian painter, born in what is now Ukraine. He became one of the ...

described Maximov as "the most uncrushable stone in the foundation of ''peredvizhnechestvo''". Maximov painted many paintings of the peasant life. In the last twenty years of his life, realism paintings fell out of fashion. Maximov still painted almost exclusively scenes of the peasant lives that had almost no buyers. The artist lived a life full of poverty and illnesses. He died in

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

Selected works

Image:MaksimovVM MalchMehanMIN.jpg, ''Boy-engineer'', 1871 Image:Maximov Sorcerer Wedding.jpg, ''A Sorcerer comes to a peasant wedding'', 1875 Image:Wassilij Maximowitsch Maximow 002b.jpg, ''Sick husband'', 1881 Image:Maximov Everything In the Past.jpg, ''Everything is in the past'', 1889

References

Biography at Старатель.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maximov, Vassily 1844 births 1911 deaths People from Volkhovsky District People from Novoladozhsky Uyezd Peredvizhniki Russian male painters Russian realist painters 19th-century painters from the Russian Empire 19th-century male artists from the Russian Empire 20th-century Russian male artists 20th-century Russian painters