In 1950 he graduated from the Moscow Secondary Art School (Russian: Московская центральная художественная школа).

From 1950 to 1956 he studied at the Surikov Moscow Art Institute Russian: Московский художественный институт имени В. И. Сурикова.

The most famous painting of Nikonov, "Geologists" (1962), caused public criticism of Nikita Khrushchev at the exhibition of the 30th anniversary of the Moscow Union of Artists.

In 2008 he presented an exhibition in Saint Petersburg called "The village Aleksino (Kalyazinsky district) [ru] as the center of the universe" Kvadrat Gallery.

[4] He is one of the founders of the Austere Style (Russian: Суровый стиль)[5] Media related to Pavel Nikonov at Wikimedia Commons