His father was the architect,
Nicholas Benois. He graduated from secondary school in 1871, then attended the
Imperial Academy of Arts and took private watercolor lessons from
Luigi Premazzi. In 1877, he graduated with the title of "Artist-Architect", first-degree, and took up watercolor painting. In 1880, he was one of the founding members of the "". He became a member of the Imperial Academy in 1890 and was appointed a professor of watercolors in 1894; a position he held until 1905. He also served on the academy's governing board. In 1895, he was appointed a curator at the
Russian Museum. In his later years, he suffered from a disease of the feet (possibly
gout) and was cared for by his daughter. He died at a nursing home in a suburb of Paris in 1936. ==Family==