Pryanishnikov Illarion Mikhailovich

Illarion Mikhailovich Pryanishnikov is a Russian artist, a master of genre painting, one of the founders of the Association of Traveling Art Exhibitions (TPHV), a teacher. In his works, he subtly captured the life and characters of Russia in the second half of the 19th century, combining social acuteness with artistic expressiveness.

Years of life:
Date and place of birth: March 20 (April 1), 1840, Timashovo village, Borovsky district, Kaluga province.
Date and place of death: March 12 (24), 1894, Moscow.

Type of activity

A realist artist, he specialized in genre painting: he depicted scenes from everyday life, the life of peasants and the urban lower classes, Moscow street types, folk rituals.
A founding member of the TPHV (since 1870), he regularly participated in traveling exhibitions, and since the second exhibition he has been a permanent member of the board of the Partnership.
Teacher: he taught at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture (1873-1894); among his students were S. V. Ivanov, N. A. Kasatkin, K. A. Korovin, M. V. Nesterov.
Full member of the Imperial Academy of Arts (since 1893).

Key works and subjects

"The jokers. Gostiny Dvor in Moscow" (1865) — brought the artist fame; for it he received a large silver medal and the title of class artist of the 3rd degree. It is now in the State Tretyakov Gallery (Tretyakov Gallery).
"Empty Houses" (1871) is recognized as innovative for its successful combination of genre and landscape motifs; a version of the painting is in the Tretyakov Gallery and in the Kharkov Art Museum.
"In 1812" (1874) is a historical and everyday scene dedicated to the Patriotic War; the best version is kept in the State Museum of Fine Arts.
"Savior's Day in the North" (1887) is an image of a national holiday typical of the late period of creativity.
"The Crossing Kaliki" (1870) and "The Seamstress" (1870) are examples of social themes, for which Pryanishnikov received the title of class artist of the 1st degree.