Five years later, thanks to an Imperial scholarship, he went to Paris where he worked under the direction of Horace Vernet, also a battle painter, and made a visit to Algiers.

The onset of the French Revolution of 1848 forced him to return to Saint Petersburg,[2] where he was initially employed as an illustrator; notably for the works of Faddey Bulgarin and Nikolay Gretsch.

He travelled extensively throughout Russia, serving as a battle painter during the second phase of the Caucasian War.

In 1867, he moved to Berlin to seek treatment and took up a position as the Director of a privately operated ceramics institute.

In 1876, he was appointed a professor at the Prussian Academy of Arts and began working at the Royal Porcelain Factory.