Vasily Surikov

Vasily Ivanovich Surikov (; 24 January 1848 – 19 March 1916) was a Russian Realist painter, active in Moscow during Tsars Alexander III and Nicholas II's reigns, renowned for his large history pictures. Many of his works have become familiar to the general public through their use as illustrations.

Biography He was born to an old family descending from Don Cossacks that had settled in Siberia. His father was a Collegiate Registrar, a civil service rank that often served as postmasters. In 1854, as a result of his father being reassigned, the family moved to the village of Sukhobuzimskoye, where he began his primary education.

In 1859, his father died of tuberculosis so the family returned to Krasnoyarsk and were forced to rent the second floor of their house to survive financially. He began drawing while attending the district school and was encouraged by the local art teacher. His first formal work dates from 1862, but his family could not afford to continue his education, and he became a clerk in a government office. This brought him into contact with , the governor of Yenisei, who was able to find him a patron: , a local merchant who owned several small gold mines.

In 1868, he rode on horseback to Saint Petersburg but was unable to qualify for admission to the Imperial Academy of Arts, so he studied at the drawing school of the Imperial Society for the Encouragement of the Arts. Numerous streets and squares throughout Russia have been named after him, as well as a crater on Mercury.

Principal works