[2] From 1869 to 1873, he attended the academy, where he studied with Pyotr Shamshin, Timofey Neff and Vasily Petrovich Vereshchagin.

In 1875, he was named an "Artist", first-class, for his depiction of Saint Paul explaining Christianity to King Herod Agrippa.

[3] After becoming acquainted with the works of Whistler, he painted numerous female portraits in a similar style, including one of the Tsarina Alexandra Feodorovna.

In 1889, Vasily Safonov, Director of the Moscow Conservatory, commissioned him to paint fourteen portraits of famous composers for the Great Hall.

After the Revolution, he returned to Odessa and died there during a famine related to the Russian Civil War, although it is unclear whether or not that was the cause of his death.