[1] He attended the Imperial Academy of Arts, where he studied history painting under Timofey Neff and Fyodor Bruni.

[2] In 1863, he became part of the "Revolt of the Fourteen", a group of students who supported Realism and were protesting the Academy's insistence on promoting the Classical style.

Soon after, together with Ivan Kramskoi, he helped to found the Artel of Artists, a group of painters who formed a sort of commune, sharing workshops and maintaining a common household on Vasilyevsky Island.

From 1862 to 1874, he was under police surveillance for alleged ties to revolutionary groups, possibly due to the social criticism inherent in many of his portrayals of peasant life.

During 1888 and 1889, he participated in showings by the "Association of Travelling Art Exhibitions" (Peredvizhniki), but never became a formal member of the group.