Aleksey Danilovich Kivshenko (Russian: Алексей Данилович Кившенко; 22 March [O.S.

He was born on a small stud farm in Tula Governorate in the family of a serf of Count Sheremetev.

His father was interested in art and music, so he encouraged his son's early attempts at drawing.

Later that year, he was commissioned by Tsar Alexander III to create scenes from the recent Russo-Turkish War, so he went to Transcaucasia to make sketches.

[1] In 1891, he accompanied Nikodim Kondakov on an archaeological expedition to Palestine and Syria, returning with numerous sketches of everyday life in the region, as well as the ancient buildings.