Konstantin Ivanovich Finogenov (1902–1989) was born in Tsaritsyn (now Volgograd). In 1917, he graduated from the local Higher Primary School, went to Moscow, where for several months he attended the studio of the artist Ilya Ivanovich Mashkov, one of the founders of the “Knave of Diamonds” arts association. After returning to his hometown, Konstantin Ivanovich began studying at an art school under the guidance of Nikolai Nikolaevich Lyubimov.

In 1929, Konstantin Finogenov entered the Leningrad Higher Art and Technical Institute. In 1930, his faculty was transferred to Moscow, where he continued his studies. In 1932, Finogenov left the institute.

The Soviet and Russian artist and scholar Valery Konstantinovich Lebedko, whose academic supervisor was Konstantin Ivanovich Finogenov, recalled the following about his teacher,

For a long time, the painting “Nikita Izotov Instructs Miners” was kept in the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow. In 1971, it was transferred to the Gorlovka Art Museum. Nikita Alekseevich Izotov was a pioneer and innovator of production, a man of tireless energy. The young man came to Donbass, to Gorlovka, together with his parents in search of work. He was employed as an auxiliary worker, a stoker, and then became a coal hewer in a mine. Tall and motivated, Nikita quickly became a leader and one of the best employees of the No. 1 “Kochegarka” mine.