Nikolay Shilder

Nikolay Gustavovich Shilder (also: Nikolai Schilder, ; 1828 - , Saint-Petersburg) was a Russian painter, active in St. Petersburg during Tsars Alexander II and Alexander III's reigns, once known for his genre pictures.

Biography Schilder was born to a Baltic German father. He graduated from the Imperial Academy of Arts in Saint Petersburg. He became an academician of the Academy in 1861. Under the influence of Pavel Fedotov he painted a series of paintings devoted to the life of ordinary people (genre painting). He also painted ceremonial portraits, including the portrait of tsar Alexander III of Russia.

His son, , was also a painter, mostly known for his landscape art.

Works

Farewell of the Militiamen (, 1855) is a painting on the occasion of the Crimean War. Its original is at the Russian Museum, St. Petersbur The Temptation (, 1857) It was the first Shilder's work in the style then called "painting of folk scenes" or (genre painting). Originally it was thought that was bought by Pavel Tretyakov in 1856, as one or the first items of his collection (together with Vasily Khudyakov's ), which later turned into the Tretyakov Gallery, but more recently it was concluded that the painting was completed in 1857 and sold in 1858. A possible explanation of the discrepancy in dates is that Tretyakov possibly saw a sketch and paid in advance. Wedding Arrangement (, 1859) is a painting Schilder prepared for the academic exhibition of 1860. The whereabouts of the original are unknown and its sketch is at the Russian Museum, St. Petersburg. The painting was also known under the title Forced Marriage . Money Lender (, 1859); its sketch is at the Russian Museum, St. Petersburg. A Settlement with the Creditors In 1861, this painting earned Schilder the title of Academician of Genre and Battle Painting.