He attended a classical grammar school and was originally planning for a career in medicine, but soon found himself attracted to art.

In pursuit of that, he moved to saint Petersburg and began auditing classes at the Imperial Academy of Arts.

He was named an "Academician" in 1874 for his portrait of War Minister, Dmitry Milyutin.

Among his best-known works are a series of portrait albums: thirty of Central Asian dignitaries who came to Moscow for the coronation of Alexander III (1884); forty-five of the Knights of various military orders (1886); and members of an embassy from 'Abd al-Ahad Khan, the Emir of Bukhara (1889).

[1] He also provided illustrations for several periodicals and participated in exhibitions held by the Imperial Society for the Encouragement of the Arts.