17, Universitetskaya Naberezhnaya, Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation
From 1868 to 1872, Arkhip studied at Imperial Academy of Arts.
17, Universitetskaya Naberezhnaya, Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation
From 1868 to 1872, Arkhip studied at Imperial Academy of Arts.
Arkhip Ivanovich Kuindzhi was born on January 27, 1842 in Mariupol, Russian Empire (present-day Mariupol, Ukraine), but spent his youth in the city of Taganrog. He was a son of Ivan Khristoforovich Kuindzhi, a shoemaker. When Arkhip was six years old, his parents died and he had to earn a living, working at a church building site, grazing domestic animals and serving at the corn merchant's shop.
The only education Arkhip received in his early years was reading lessons, taken from a Greek friend of the family, who was a teacher. Some time later, he attended the local school, which he gave up at the age of ten. In 1855, Kuindzhi left for Feodosia in order to take lessons from Ivan Aivazovsky. He lived for about four months at Aivazovsky’s house, but the maestro paid no attention to him and his ambitions. Kuindzhi only mixed up paints for his tutor and once was ordered to paint the fence. It was Adolf Fessler, who in his spare time showed Kuindzhi some artistic skills. However, watching a professional artist at work affected Kuindzhi and helped him to choose his way in life.
In the early 1860's, Arkhip left for Saint Petersburg to attend Imperial Academy of Arts. His attemps to enter the Academy were unsuccessful, but thanks to his talent, in 1868 Kuindzhi received the right to attend the Academy lectures as an irregular student. Four years later, in 1872, he left the Academy.
Since 1860 to 1865, Arkhip Kuindzhi worked as a retoucher in the photography studio of Simeon Isakovich in Taganrog. After leaving the Imperial Academy of Arts in 1872, he started to work as a freelancer. The same year, his work, entitled "Autumn Impassability of Roads", brought Kuindzhi an Academy title of a "class artist of the third grade", given to Academy graduates. The work depicts a woman and a child walking along a path across a withered field. Their cart is stuck in the mud on the road, and the horse stands still, waiting for them to return. The sky is low and gloomy over their heads, and it looks like it is going to snow. The main color of the picture is yellowish brown, the color of the late Russian autumn. Though Kuindzhi was born in the south, this painting proves, that he had a deep feeling for northern nature.
In 1873, Arkhip exhibited his work "The Snow", which won him a bronze medal at the International Art Exhibition in London the following year. In 1874, the painter started to take part in traveling art exhibitions, organized by Peredvizhniki (The Wanderers) — a group of Russian realist artists, who formed an artists' cooperative in protest of academic restrictions. In the mid-1870's, Arkhip continued to create his landscape paintings.
In 1879, Kuindzhi left The Wanderers to seek his own style and mood, and a year later, he impressed the public and critics with the famous "The Moon Night on the Dniepr River". His friends visited his workshop in order to witness the birth of the masterpiece. Also, on weekends, the unfinished work was exhibited for every citizen to see. When the painting was exhibited, the illusion of light appeared to be so realistic, that many people attempted to look behind the canvas, certain there must have been a lamp there. To intensify the effect, the picture was placed in a dark hall and was enlightened by one electric beam, aimed directly at it.
In 1882, Kuindzhi exhibited three of his works, namely "The Moon Night on the Dniepr River", "The Birch Grove" and "The Morning Dniepr". After that, he didn't hold any exhibition till the 1900's.
In 1892, he was appointed a Professor at the Imperial Academy of Arts. Since 1894, Arkhip started to work as a Professor and Head of landscape workshop under the Academy. He held this post till 1897, when he was fired for support of students' protests.
In 1909, Kuindzhi established Society of Artists, which was later known as Kuindzhi Society of Artists.
Arkhip Kuindzhi was a renowned Russian landscape painter. "The Moon Night on the Dniepr River" was one of his most famous works. In 1874, he attained a Bronze Medal at the International Art Exhibition in London.
In 1909, he founded Kuindzhi Society of Artists.
His works are kept in the collections of different museums and galleries, including Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow, State Russian Museum in Saint Petersburg and others.
Moonlight Night on the Dnieper
Night Landscape
Sea
Ai-Petri. Crimea
Autumn. Fog
Moonlight in a Forest. Winter
Forest Lake. Cloud
Red sunset
Winter
The Sea with a Sailing Ship
Forest
Forgotten Village
Crimea. Yayla
Volga
Autumn
Lake. Evening
View of the Moskvoretsky Bridge, the Kremlin and the Pokrovsky Cathedral
Cloud over the mountain valley
Ukrainian Night
View of Moscow
Sunrise
The top of Mount Elbrus in the Sunlight
Clouds
Sunset
Elbrus. Moonlit Night
Wild grass
A Birch Grove
Fog in the mountains. Caucasus
Forgotten Village
Night
Sunset in the steppes
Snow tops
Forest Glade. Fog
Portrait of Viktor Vasnetsov
Crimea
Moonlight Night on the Dnieper
Winter. Fog
After a Rain
Fishing on the Black Sea
A grove with birch
Seashore
Sunset in the forest
View of the Kremlin from the Zamoskvorechye District
Kazbek
Sunset in the steppes by the sea
Forest near the water
Cypresses on a Seashore. The Crimea
A Birch Grove
Evening
Elbrus in the daytime
The Crimea. The Southern Shore
Elbrus in the Evening
Forest expanse
Mountain slope. Crimea
After a Rain
Forest swamp
Birches
Sunset in the winter. A coast of the sea
Rainbow
Sunset in the forest
Winter
Night
Crescent moon at sunset
Elbrus in the Evening
Trunks of trees
Winter. Sunlight on The Hoar Frost
Portrait of Ivan Kramskoi
Elbrus in the daytime
Dnieper
Daryal pass. Moonlight Night
Forest
Twilight
Sunset Effect
Red sunset
Waves
Mountains
Early spring
Rock
Mountains and clouds
Sea
Poplar trees
Oaks
A Birch Grove. Spots of sunlight
Surf. Crimea
Sunflowers. Crimea
Winter
A Birch Grove
Roofs. Winter
Cloud
Winter
After a Rain
Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane
Sunset with trees
Sunset
Grove
Forest Glade
Moonlight Night on the River
View of the Isaac Cathedral at Moonlight Night
Autumn impassability of roads
Landscape
A Birch Grove
A Birch Grove
Winter. Thaw
Steppe
Evening in the steppe
Snowy mountain peaks. Caucasus.
Portrait of N.A. Jaroshenko
Expanse. Crimea
Forest
After the thunderstorm
Chumaks path in Mariupol
Portrait of an unknown man
A boat in the sea. Crimea
Forest Glade
Cloud
Crimea
Rainbow
Rainbow
Noon. Herd in the steppe
Clouds
A Birch Grove
Cloud
A Birch Grove
Sunset in the forest
Steppe in the evening
Steppe. Cornfield
Winter. Spots of Light on Cottage Roof
Red sunset
Forest landscape
Twilight in the steppe
Forest. Burdock
Rainbow
Lake Ladoga
Ukraine
The head of a Ukrainian peasant in a straw hat
Coast of the sea with a rock
Sea coast. Crimea
Landscape. Steppe
Autumn
Rocky seashore. Crimea
The North
Tree against the evening sky
Snow tops
Seashore
Sunset
Winter
Elbrus
After a Rain
A Birch Grove
Sea. Gloomy Day
Moonlight Night. Meditation
Pine
Autumn. Steppe
Sunspots on frost. Sunset in the forest
The Sea. The Crimea
View of the beach and sea from the mountains. Crimea
The limpid water. Gloomy day. Crimea
Sunlight in the park
Dnieper in the morning
Clouds
Dnieper
Ploughing on oxen
View on Moscow from Sparrow Hills
A Birch Grove
Flower Garden. Caucasus
Mountains on the shore
On a Valaam Island
Crimea
Evening in Ukraine
Sea coast. View of Mount Demerdzhi
In the Crimea
Cloud
Moonlight Night. Winter
After a Rain. Rainbow
Sunset
Moonlight Night on the Sea
Arkhip Kuindzhi was a short-tempered, but kind man. Despite the fact, that he was greedy for fame, he often donated anonymously to charity. In his later years, Kuindzhi liked birds — he tamed them and nursed them in ill health.
Arkhip married Vera Ketcherdzhi in 1875.
