Gravestone of Arkhip Kuindzhi

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Arkhip Ivanovich Kuindzhi, a renowned landscape painter of Greek descent, was born on January 27, 1842, in Mariupol, Ukraine. He spent his youth in Taganrog, where he developed his artistic skills under the guidance of Adolf Fessler, a student of Ivan Aivazovsky. Kuindzhi's Christian name is derived from the Greek word ἄρχιππος (archippos), meaning "master of horses," while his surname originated from his grandfather's profession as a goldsmith in Tatar. Growing up in a poor family, Kuindzhi had to work at a young age to support himself. He lost his parents when he was just six years old and began working on church building sites, grazing domestic animals, and assisting at a corn merchant's shop. Despite these hardships, Kuindzhi managed to receive some education from a Greek friend of the family who was a teacher. In 1855, at the age of 13-14, Kuindzhi visited Feodosia to study art under Ivan Aivazovsky. However, he instead studied with Adolf Fessler, Aivazovsky's student. Although Kuindzhi is not considered a direct student of Aivazovsky, the latter's influence can be seen in his early work. English art historian John E. Bowlt notes that Aivazovsky's elemental sense of light and form had a lasting impact on the young Kuindzhi. Between 1860 and 1865, Kuindzhi worked as a retoucher in Simeon Isakovich's photography studio in Taganrog. He attempted to open his own photography studio but was unsuccessful. In 1868, he enrolled at the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts, where he studied painting mainly independently. Kuindzhi became a co-partner of traveling art exhibitions, known as Peredvizhniki, a group of Russian realist artists who formed an artists' cooperative in protest against academic restrictions. In 1872, Kuindzhi left the academy and worked as a freelancer. His painting "On the Valaam Island" was acquired by Pavel Tretyakov for his art gallery, marking the first artwork from Kuindzhi's oeuvre to be included in the collection. In 1873, he exhibited "The Snow," which received the bronze medal at the International Art Exhibition in London in 1874. During the mid-1870s, Kuindzhy created a series of paintings that featured concrete social associations in the spirit of Peredvizhniki. These works include "Forgotten Village" and "Chumatski Path," both of which are now housed in the Tretyakov Gallery. In his mature period, Kuindzhi focused on capturing the decorative effects of color in his paintings. Kuindzhi lectured at the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts from 1892 until he was fired in 1897 for supporting students' protests. Among his notable students are Arkady Rylov, Nicholas Roerich, Konstantin Bogaevsky, and others. In 1909, Kuindzhi initiated the creation of the Society of Artists, which later became known as the A.I. Kuindzhi Society. The State Museum of City Sculptures was founded in 1932 to study, restore, and protect city sculptures and gravestones. The museum has several branches around St. Petersburg, with the main ones concentrated within the former territory of the Aleksandro-Nevsky Lavra. The Tikhvinskoe Cemetery, established in 1823, is a branch of the State Museum of City Sculptures and is known as the Necropolis of Masters of Culture. Many leading figures of Russian culture are buried here, including writers Fyodor Dostoevsky, Nikolai Karamzin, and Ivan Krylov; composers Aleksandr Borodin, Mikhail Glinka, Modest Musorgsky, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, and Pyotr Tchaikovsky; and artists Boris Kustodiev, Ivan Kramskoy, and Ivan Shishkin.