He studied at the Imperial Academy of Arts with Karl Bryullov and was awarded the title of "Free Artist".

His painting "Troika" was purchased by Tsar Alexander II and several were acquired by the noble Stenbok-Fermor family.

Both he and his father were great admirers of Pushkin so, from 1855 to 1860, he created pencil-drawn illustrations for Eugene Onegin and The Captain's Daughter.

They met approval from Pushkin's friends and have proven to be very popular.

Media related to Pavel Petrovich Sokolov at Wikimedia Commons