Peasants by Russian artist Abram Arkhipov

Abram Arkhipov was a Russian painter, peredvizhnik. He entered the history of Russian art of the late XIX-early XX century as an artist of subtle and poetic talent, who dedicated his work to the Russian countryside, the peasant theme.
Abram Yefimovich Arkhipov was born on August 27, 1862 in one of the villages of the Ryazan province into a poor peasant family. Since childhood he was fond of drawing. Parents encouraged the son in every possible way and in 1876 they sent him to study in Moscow.
From 1877 to 1883 and from 1886 to 1888 he studied at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture under the leadership of V.G. Perov, V.D. Polenov, I.M. Pryanishnikov, A.K. Savrasov and V.E. Makovsky. In addition, from 1884 to 1886 he studied at the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts.

In 1887, for the painting Visiting the Sick Arkhipov received a large silver medal and the title of a class artist.
In 1891, he became a member of the Society for Travelling Art Exhibitions.
Many works of this period, such as Visiting the Sick, On the River Oka, were bought personally by P.M. Tretyakov for his collection.
In 1896 and 1912 the artist visited France, Germany and Italy.
In 1898, he received the title of academician and became a member of the Academy of Fine Arts in 1916.
In 1904 he became one of the founders of the Union of Russian Artists.
From 1912 he often traveled to the Russian North.
After the October Revolution the artist took part in the reorganization of the school, in 1918-1920. He taught at the State Agricultural Academy.
In 1924 he became the Member of the Association of Artists of Revolutionary Russia and in 1927 he became People’s Artist of the Republic.
Abram Arkhipov died on September 25, 1930 in Moscow. He was buried at the Vagankovskoye cemetery. He was not married and had no children, but the artistic traditions of the family were continued by his grand-niece, Alla Bedina.