[1] In 1849, he entered the Imperial Academy of Arts, where he studied with Pyotr Basin and Maxim Vorobiev.

In 1861, he graduated with the title of "Artist", another gold medal (for his painting of Sophia of Lithuania at the wedding of her son, Vasily II) and the right to a stipend for study abroad.

His few works were mostly of an historical nature, which he attempted to infuse with a psychological depth, rather than merely representing the events.

[1] His wife Vera, daughter of the landscape painter Yegor Meyer, was also an artist of some note.

[2] The street where he lived was named in his honor and, in 1987, his home in Pushkin (a suburb of Saint Petersburg) became a museum.