[2] From 1883 to 1886, he attended the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture (MSPSA), where he studied with Illarion Pryanishnikov and Vladimir Makovsky.

[2] In 1900, he went to the art colony in Talashkino, near Smolensk, where he was involved in the ceramic and carving workshops of Princess Maria Tenisheva and joined the movement known as "Mir Iskusstva".

While there, he designed a building for the school library (named "Teremok [ru]", after a Russian folktale) and decorated the theater.

[2] His architectural designs were basically part of the Russian Revival movement, but were also embellished with fantastic folk motifs.

[2] After the 1917 Revolution, he worked as an instructor at the "Higher Artistic and Technical Workshops" known as Vkhutemas ("ВХУТЕМАС"); a school established by Vladimir Lenin.