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Two painters, Antropov and Argunov, who were
sent abroad to study, in a way served as a link between Peter's stipendists and
the painters of Catherine's time. A. P. Antropov, 1716-1795, was the son of a
simple soldier. He started his artistic career by painting frescoes in
churches, decorating palaces and rich homes and painting icons. Influenced by
Matveyev, he added portrait painting to his palette. He too strived to express
the character and the inner feelings of the persons he painted. In his portrait
of Peter III he succeeded, but it is hard to say whether he did so as much in
the portraits of A.M. Izmailova, M.A. Rumijatseva, A.B. Buturlina, Countess
Apraksin and several other members of the Russian aristocracy who quickly
became attracted to the portrait fashion. Nobody wanted to be without a
portrait of himself to hang on the wall. Ivan Petrovich Argunov, 1727-1802, was
a serf of count Shremetiev at his estate of Kuskovo, near Moscow. His talent
for painting first earned him admission to the count's studio, where living
conditions were considerably better, and later his freedom. He was the first in
a family of talented men to distinguish himself. His brother Yakov was a good
illustrator and designer; his son Nikolai was almost equal to his father as a
painter, and his son Ivan participated with the Camporese architect Quarenghi,
and some other outstanding foreigners in building the palace at Ostankino
1791-1799 for N.P. Sheremetiev. A great lover of art, and of music and theater
in particular, the count offered the opportunity to any of his gifted serfs to
develop his talent, often granting them legal freedom as his father did for the
entire family of Argunovs. For this generous contributions to arts and his
wealth, the count was nicknamed "Croesus, Junior." Though of peasant
origin, Argunov proved to be less influenced by iconography than Antropov, but
they both worked hard for Russia to get her own Academy in the hope that her
art might become less dependent on western art. Many portraits painted by
Argunov decorated the walls of Kuskovo palace. His "Kalmyk Girl" is
one of his most successful.
Portrait painting continued to dominate the art scene through a good part of
the 18 Th century, but it seldom showed originality, and though some painters
achieved a high level of mastery and skill, they were unable to escape the
influence of western masters. The second half of the century brought the first
genre-paintings, followed soon by the first landscapes. Here is one of
Argunov's paintings. To view three more please go to Argunov.
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