In 1858, he entered the Imperial Academy of Arts, where he studied history painting with Pyotr Basin and Alexey Tarasovich Markov.

[2] From that point on, he earned his living by giving drawing lesson to aristocratic families and built an art studio in Khovrino, where he spent his summers painting.

[2] While still a member of the Artel, he accepted an invitation to give private drawing lessons to the children of future Tsar Alexander III and continued to do so for many years.

Grand Duchess Olga, the Tsar's youngest daughter, turned out to be his best student there, and retained an interest in art for the rest of her life.

[1] He's been elected a full member of the Imperial Academy at its reformation in 1893, received a life pension and became a curator for the art collection at the Russian Museum until his retirement in 1909.