Fyodor Vasilyev

Painter, draughtsman. Born in Gatchina as the illegitimate son of a poor civil servant called Alexander Vasilyev (1850). Studied under Pyotr Sokolov (from 1865), under Ivan Kramskoi at the evening classes of the School of Drawing of the Society for the Encouragement of Artists (1863–69), under the restorer Ivan Sokolov at the Imperial Academy of Arts (1870–71) and as an extern student of the Imperial Academy of Arts (1871, did not attend classes). Awarded the titles of non-class artist (1868), first-class artist (1872) and honorary fellow of the Imperial Academy of Arts (1873). Influenced by the Barbizon school. Worked with Ivan Shishkin on the island of Balaam (1867), in the village of Konstantinovka near Krasnoe Selo (1868) and at the Stroganov estates in Tambov Province (1868) and Kharkiv Province (1869, 1871). Married Ivan Shishkin’s sister (1868). Won prizes at the competitions of the Society for the Encouragement of Artists (1868, 1871, 1873). Accompanied Ilya Repin and Ivan Makarov on a trip down the River Volga (1870). Attended the drawing soirees of the St Petersburg Artel of Artists (1860s). Founding member of the Society of Travelling Art Exhibitions (from 1868). Travelled to the Crimea to recuperate from tuberculosis (1871). Lived in Yalta (1871–73). Died in Yalta (1873). Contributed to exhibitions (from 1867). Contributed to the exhibitions of the Society for the Encouragement of Artists (1867, 1870, 1872), Moscow Society of Lovers of the Arts (1872), Imperial Academy of Arts (1872, 1873) and the World Exhibition in London (1872).