[1] He learnt drawing at the Saint Petersburg Mining Cadet Corps, then at the Imperial Academy of Arts (1851–1858).

He complained that the foreign landscapes would not inspire him and that French and Italian school of painting is inferior to Russian one.

[2] Observers celebrated his devotion to Russian landscape, attention to the details and perspective.

[2] On the other hand, popular art critic Vladimir Stasov noted petty naturalism and the "slavish following to reality" in many Clodt works.

[2] In both his devotion to the Russian landscape and some petty naturalism Clodt was probably the forerunner of Ivan Shishkin.