Ivan Kramskoy was a Russian painter and draftsman, one of the main artists of the realistic school of the second half of the 19th century. He was born on June 8, 1837 in Ostrogozhsk, Voronezh province, in the family of a clerk. Ivan Nikolaevich entered the icon painter’s apprenticeship at the age of fifteen. Then the future artist worked for the Kharkov photographer Yakov Danilevsky, and in 1856 he moved to St. Petersburg, where he was engaged in retouching at the well-known at that time Alexandrovsky photographic studio. Then Kramskoy entered the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts.
In 1870, the Society for Traveling Art Exhibitions was established, one of the organizers and ideologists of which was Ivan Kramskoy. Influenced by the ideas of the Narodniks, Ivan Nikolaevich defended the opinion consonant with them about the high social role of the artist, the fundamental principles of realism, the moral essence of art and its national affiliation. On the basis of these ideas, he created a number of portraits of outstanding Russian writers, artists and public figures. Among them are portraits of Leo Tolstoy, Ivan Shishkin, Pavel Tretyakov, and Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin, which are now in the Tretyakov Gallery. One of Kramskoy’s most famous works is “Christ in the Desert.” According to researchers, in this painting Kramskoy gave the dramatic experiences of Jesus Christ a deeply psychological interpretation associated with the idea of heroic self-sacrifice. Over the years, Kramskoy’s popularity as a portrait painter grew, and he gained more and more supporters, including among members of the imperial family. This provided the artist with a comfortable existence.
In 1881, the artist bought land in Siversky, on the right bank of the Oredezh River, and built his own estate with a workshop. There Ivan Nikolaevich painted more than 40 works, including studies depicting his estate. Kramskoy’s cottage was destroyed in a fire, during the retreat of the Nazis from Siversky, in 1944.
In the painting, the artist depicted his children
vacationing in the country house.
