Vasily Dmitriyevich Polenov was born in 1844 in Saint Petersburg into a large noble family. His father Dmitry Polenov was a Russian archaeologist, bibliographer, historian, and diplomat. His mother Maria Polenova (nee Voeikova) was a children’s author and portrait painter. She took painting lessons. Thanks to the portraits she created, it is known how Vasily Polenov looked as a child. The parents supported their children’s interest in art and hired teachers from the Academy of Arts for them. Polenov’s trips to Olshanka in the Tambov region were his brightest childhood impressions. There, the family estate of his grandmother Vera Nikolaevna Voeikova was located. She supported her grandchildren’s passion for painting.
From 1861 to 1863, Polenov studied at the Olonets Provincial Men’s Gymnasium in Petrozavodsk. Presently, there is a memorial plaque on this building.
Vasily Polenov enjoyed studying painting and wanted to enter the Academy of Arts. However, his parents insisted on him getting a classic university education. In 1863, after graduating from the gymnasium, Vasily Polenov entered the Physics and Mathematics Faculty of St. Petersburg University together with his brother Alexey. However, he soon left the university and only studied painting. He attended evening classes at the Academy of Fine Arts, and had courses on drawing, anatomy, architecture, geometry and history of fine arts. In 1867, Vasily Polenov completed his apprenticeship and received silver medals for drawings and a study. At the same time as studying at the Academy of Fine Arts, he attended classes at the Faculty of Law.
“Head of an Old Jew” is a sketch for the painting “Among the Teachers”. It was important for Polenov to make this work as authentic as possible. That is why he used sitters from the Jewish Ghetto in Rome (ghettos are parts of large cities reserved for minorities who voluntarily or unwillingly live there). From the artist’s point of view, the Jews from the ghetto, thanks to their isolation from the Christian world around them, managed to preserve traditions and authentic character to a greater extent than the Jews of Palestine, where for centuries they mixed with the conquerors who came there.
From 1861 to 1863, Polenov studied at the Olonets Provincial Men’s Gymnasium in Petrozavodsk. Presently, there is a memorial plaque on this building.
Vasily Polenov enjoyed studying painting and wanted to enter the Academy of Arts. However, his parents insisted on him getting a classic university education. In 1863, after graduating from the gymnasium, Vasily Polenov entered the Physics and Mathematics Faculty of St. Petersburg University together with his brother Alexey. However, he soon left the university and only studied painting. He attended evening classes at the Academy of Fine Arts, and had courses on drawing, anatomy, architecture, geometry and history of fine arts. In 1867, Vasily Polenov completed his apprenticeship and received silver medals for drawings and a study. At the same time as studying at the Academy of Fine Arts, he attended classes at the Faculty of Law.
“Head of an Old Jew” is a sketch for the painting “Among the Teachers”. It was important for Polenov to make this work as authentic as possible. That is why he used sitters from the Jewish Ghetto in Rome (ghettos are parts of large cities reserved for minorities who voluntarily or unwillingly live there). From the artist’s point of view, the Jews from the ghetto, thanks to their isolation from the Christian world around them, managed to preserve traditions and authentic character to a greater extent than the Jews of Palestine, where for centuries they mixed with the conquerors who came there.
