Nikolai Kupreyanov

Draughtsman, engraver, painter, illustrator, teacher. Nephew of Mikhail Kuzmin. Born in the family of Nikolai Kupreyanov and Maria Myagkova in W?oc?awek in Poland (1894). Studied at the Prince Vyacheslav Tenishev Commercial College in St Petersburg (1912), Faculties of Philology and Law of St Petersburg University, studios of Dmitry Kardovsky (1912–14) and Kuzma Petrov-Vodkin (1915–16) and under Anna Ostroumova-Lebedeva (1912–17). Married Natalia Iznar (1916) and Vera Kagan-Shabshai. Collaborated with magazines and illustrated books. Taught drawing at the Institute of Photography and Phototechnics in Petrograd (until 1920). Headed the Kostroma Free Art Studios (from 1920), where he taught art and read lectures. Moved to Moscow at the invitation of Lev Bruni (1922) and taught book illustrations and lithography at the VKhUTEMAS/VKhUTEIN in Moscow (1922–33). Member of Four Arts and the Society of Easel Artists (1924). Died in Moscow and buried at the Novodevichy Cemetery (1933). Contributed to exhibitions (from 1912), including a one-man show in Kazan (1926).