Future artist Nikolai Alexeev was born in 1813 to a tradesman’s family in Penza Province. At the age of seven, he was enrolled in A.V. Stupin Arzamas Art School. The amateur painter studied there till 1829. 

When he was 16, Alexeev went to Saint Petersburg, where he enrolled in the Imperial Academy of Arts. He graduated from the educational institution in 1834 and returned to Arzamas. There, Alexeev started to lead art classes. He was connected with the head and founder of school, Alexander Stupin, not only by a professional relationship, but also by a personal one: he married Stupin’s daughter, Claudia. Later, Stupin handed over stewardship of the school’s pedagogial part to him. 

 
A ceremonial portrait painted by Nikolai Alexeev depicts merchant Pyotr Podsosov at the age of about 60 years: white hair, a face with furrowed brows contrast with the dark background of the painting. Podsosov was an honorary citizen of Arzamas, like his father. He was also the mayor of the city, as well as an active merchant. He was trading meat, lard, improved sheepskin and raw skin, affiliated with count Sheremetyev’s Bogorodsk office. It is thanks to Pyotr Podsosov that Arzamas merchants established trade links with large Russian cities, such as Nizhne-Uralsk, Orenburg, Samara, Yekaterinburg and Saint Petersburg. Podsosov also owned gold mines, and later became the founder of the first National Bank in Arzamas. 

The Portrait of Merchant Pyotr Podsosov was preserved and contributed to Arzamas Museum, thanks to Alexey Ikonnikov, a local historian of Arzamas and painter. The painting is made in the academic style.