Nikifor Stepanovich Krylov was
one of the first pupils of Venetsianov.
He was from a petty bourgeois family, used to draw icons and sell them
in marketplaces. At one such fair he met Venetsianov, in 1823. Venetsianov
was impressed with the portraiture skills of the young man, but saw very
clearly that he needed training in drawing.
Krylov took some lessons from
Venetsianov, but had no opportunity for regular studies. Venetsianov insisted
that the young man should become his student and in 1825 brought him to
St. Petersburg. Krylov was in shock after his first visit to the Hermitage.
Only now he realized how much he should study and how much he could create
himself. Venetsianov provided him with a ticket to visit drawing classes
in the Academy and continued to train the painter himself.
In 1830, Krylov and Zelentsov were the
first of Venetsianov’s pupils to receive the title of honor members of
the Academy.
Krylov died June 28, 1931
during an epidemic of cholera.
