Background
Flavitsky was born in Moscow, Russian Federation, on September 13, 1830.
Flavitsky was born in Moscow, Russian Federation, on September 13, 1830.
Konstantin Flavitsky spent his childhood in Saint Petersburg. In 1847 Flavitsky entered the Drawing School of the Society for the Promotion of artists. The same year as the gifted student he received a scholarship. From 1848 to 1855 he studied in the class of historical painting by Fine Arts Bruni.
Flavitsky adhered to classical traditions and principles followed by K.P. Bryullov. He visited Berlin, Dresden and Vienna. After returning to Russia he lived in Saint Petersburg.
His creative heritage was not extensive and he was known primarily as the author of the painting Princess Tarakanova. The work was based on a legend from Russian history according to which Princess Tarakanova, who said she was the daughter of Empress Elizabeth and Alexei Razumovsky and laid claim to the Russian throne in Catherine the Great's reign, died in the Peter and Paul Fortress during the flood of 1777. The artist depicted with great tragic power the suffering of this young woman facing certain death in a gloomy dungeon flooded with water, depicting her helplessness and despair.
Konstantin Flavitsky exhibited his works at exhibitions in the halls of IAH (1854-1865, with interruptions), the Moscow Society of Art Lovers (1865). In 1865-1866 he visited Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod, Vilnius, and Warsaw. In the mid-1860s, Flavitsky participated in the painting of the Orthodox Cathedral of St. Nicholas in Vilnius.