His father was a music teacher from Germany. From 1851 to 1856, he studied at the
Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture under . In 1858, he entered the Imperial Academy of Arts, where he studied
history painting with
Pyotr Basin and
Alexey Markov. Five years later, in 1863, he participated in what came to be known as the "
Revolt of the Fourteen", a protest by those who preferred the
Realistic style over the
Classical style being promoted by the academy. As a result, he withdrew from the academy with the degree of Artist Second-Class. He joined the
Artel of Artists, led by
Ivan Kramskoi. Five years later, he entered an academy competition and became an Artist First-Class. In 1870, he joined with
Grigoriy Myasoyedov to create the "
Peredvizhniki" (Association of Traveling Art Exhibitions). He was briefly expelled from the Association for failing to provide work on time, but rejoined in 1879, eventually becoming a board member and Treasurer. While still a member of the Artel, he accepted an invitation to give private drawing lessons to the children of future Tsar
Alexander III and continued to do so for many years.
Grand Duchess Olga, the Tsar's youngest daughter, turned out to be his best student there, and retained an interest in art for the rest of her life. He's been elected a full member of the Imperial Academy at its reformation in 1893, received a life pension and became a curator for the art collection at the
Russian Museum until his retirement in 1909. ==Selected paintings==