Constantin Westchiloff

Constantin Alexandrovich Westchiloff (; 15 May 1878 – 23 April 1945) was a Russian-American artist, who was active in the fields of portraiture, genre scenes, landscape, and seascape painting. He also worked as a graphic artist and set designer. In 1922, Westchiloff adopted the latinized version of his name, upon establishing residency in France.

Early life Constantin Westchiloff, born in Saint Petersburg, Russia, came from a merchant family. Various sources suggest different birthdates: either November 1877, 15, 27, or 28 May 1878, or 5 December 1878. His father was Alexander, and his mother was Anna Vassilieva.

Training Westchiloff received his first painting lessons at Valaam Monastery under the guidance of Father Luke, who was in charge of painting the main cathedral of the monastery. in St. Petersburg. He continued studies there until 1896,

Between 1898 and 1904, Westchiloff continued studies under Repin at the Imperial Academy of Arts, informally known as the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts. There, Repin singled out Weshchiloff among his talented students not only as a beloved, but also as a "personal student." That diorama was for celebrations of that city's bicentennial in 1903.

Also in 1902, while still a student at the Imperial Academy, Constantin Westchiloff began to exhibit work at Moscow exhibitions — showing portraits and genre paintings.

Constantin Alexandrovich Westchiloff, Breakthrough of the Cruiser Askold in 1904 in the Yellow Sea. 16 x 9.4 inches, 1906, Central Naval Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia.

In 1906, Westchiloff participated in the Royal Academy's First Fall Exhibition in St. Petersburg. Westchiloff exhibited his painting, Breakthrough of the Cruiser Askold in 1904 in the Yellow Sea, which interpreted a scene in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905. He also exhibited his portraits of Count Nikolay Muravyov-Amursky and of Lieut. S. Poguljajeff.

In 1907, Westchiloff, inspired by his love of ancient history, painted a picture entitled, Mary on the Ruins of Carthage, which received only a modest review:

Westchiloff enrolled in a course of study at St. Petersburg's Imperial Archaeological Institute, which he completed in 1908. Coordinated with his studies there, Westchiloff presented several large paintings presenting scenes from ancient history. However, none of them received the amount of acclaim he was about to receive for depictions of Russian history — in a series of paintings that included these two titles from 1907, both purchased by M.E. Sinitsyn, a prominent disciple of the Ryazhitsa Old Believers.

France Westchiloff's studio in Paris looked directly out at the Seine River. a large auction house in Paris, document sales of some paintings which Westchiloff produced while living in France. In the spring of 1928 in Paris, Westchiloff exhibited paintings at the Galeries Jean Charpentier, 76 Rue du Faubourg-Saint-Honoré (that location in Paris now occupied by Sotheby's France ). This was the second exhibition for Westchiloff at Jean Charpentier.

The seascapes "reveal Westchiloff's evident skill at rendering water and the atmosphere of the New England coast and undoubtedly derive from the tradition of seascape painting that was an important part of Russian academic training in the nineteenth century, when the artist was a student." — Natalie H. Lee