The painting is front of us is Portrait of an Elderly Man in a Hat by the recognized master of portrait painting of the end of the XIX century Ilya Savvich Galkin. During his relatively short life the artist created many portraits. Instead of catching the momentary mood of the models, among which were both aristocrats and ordinary peasants, he reflected the leading character trait of the unique personality. These amazingly live faces can be called a distinctive feature of the artist’s work.
Ilya Galkin’s way to artistic recognition, like many artists’, was not easy. He was born in a poor family living in St. Petersburg province. As a child, he was given to a cobbler for training. During the apprenticeship, he started painting in his spare time. Ilya was lucky: one of the cobbler’s clients noticed the gifted teenager and helped him find a job at the Drawing School of the Society for Artists' Encouragement in St. Petersburg.
Poverty did not allow him to continue his education for a long time. Only at 23, the young artist was able to begin his studies at the Academy of Arts, but only as a volunteer. There was still no money for a full student status. Only a few years later, after receiving several incentive prizes, he received the status of an artist of the 2nd degree, after which he began to take an active part in exhibitions of the St. Petersburg Society of Artists. And only five years later, in 1893, he was awarded the title of class artist of the 2nd degree for portraits of the painters Vladimir Kazantsev and Julius Fedders.
Fortune smiled upon Galkin again – in 1894 he began to receive orders for portraits of members of the imperial family, Emperor Nicholas II, Empresses Maria Feodorovna and Alexandra Feodorovna were among them.
Interestingly, one of the portraits, the Ceremonial Portrait of Emperor Nicholas II, painted by Galkin in 1896, had been hidden for a long time. It was found accidentally in 2013 at St. Petersburg School No. 206, where it had spent almost a century smothered in a layer of gouache and with a portrait of Vladimir Lenin in a cap painted on the back of the canvas. It turned out that this way the artist Vladislav Izmailovich in 1917 saved the portrait from destruction. The restorers of the Stiglitz Academy were able to restore the both portraits and they are now available for display.
For a little more than thirty years of active work Ilya Galkin painted a large number of paintings, a major part of which are portraits of various people. But it wasn’t just portraits that attracted the artist. Among his paintings were genre works such as Returning from Hunting. Often the heroes of his plots were ordinary villagers. But always in his works Galkin paid a greatest attention to the faces of heroes.
Today his works can be seen in many Russian museums.
Ilya Galkin’s way to artistic recognition, like many artists’, was not easy. He was born in a poor family living in St. Petersburg province. As a child, he was given to a cobbler for training. During the apprenticeship, he started painting in his spare time. Ilya was lucky: one of the cobbler’s clients noticed the gifted teenager and helped him find a job at the Drawing School of the Society for Artists' Encouragement in St. Petersburg.
Poverty did not allow him to continue his education for a long time. Only at 23, the young artist was able to begin his studies at the Academy of Arts, but only as a volunteer. There was still no money for a full student status. Only a few years later, after receiving several incentive prizes, he received the status of an artist of the 2nd degree, after which he began to take an active part in exhibitions of the St. Petersburg Society of Artists. And only five years later, in 1893, he was awarded the title of class artist of the 2nd degree for portraits of the painters Vladimir Kazantsev and Julius Fedders.
Fortune smiled upon Galkin again – in 1894 he began to receive orders for portraits of members of the imperial family, Emperor Nicholas II, Empresses Maria Feodorovna and Alexandra Feodorovna were among them.
Interestingly, one of the portraits, the Ceremonial Portrait of Emperor Nicholas II, painted by Galkin in 1896, had been hidden for a long time. It was found accidentally in 2013 at St. Petersburg School No. 206, where it had spent almost a century smothered in a layer of gouache and with a portrait of Vladimir Lenin in a cap painted on the back of the canvas. It turned out that this way the artist Vladislav Izmailovich in 1917 saved the portrait from destruction. The restorers of the Stiglitz Academy were able to restore the both portraits and they are now available for display.
For a little more than thirty years of active work Ilya Galkin painted a large number of paintings, a major part of which are portraits of various people. But it wasn’t just portraits that attracted the artist. Among his paintings were genre works such as Returning from Hunting. Often the heroes of his plots were ordinary villagers. But always in his works Galkin paid a greatest attention to the faces of heroes.
Today his works can be seen in many Russian museums.
