Longin (Loggin) Fricke

Painter. Born in the family of Christian Fricke, assistant inspector of classes at the Imperial Academy of Arts, in the village of Gorodets in St Petersburg Province (1820). Studied landscape painting under Maxim Vorobyov at the Imperial Academy of Arts (1833–39). Awarded a major silver medal (1835), minor gold medal (1837) and a major gold medal and the title of class artist (1839). Visited relatives in Halberstadt and Frankfurt-on-Main (1839) and lived in Italy as a fellow of the Imperial Academy of Arts (1840–47), working in Rome, Naples, Capri and Sicily and visiting Holland, Germany and Switzerland. Returned to Russia (1847), where he was elected to the Imperial Academy of Arts (1847). Worked in Moscow (1849) and the Crimea (1850s). Abandoned art and moved to Novocherkassk (1860). Contributed to the exhibitions of the Imperial Academy of Arts (1854, 1855) and the Society for the Encouragement of Artists.