Nikolai Dmitriyevich Kuznetsov

Nikolai Dmitriyevich Kuznetsov (; – 2 March 1929) was a Russian painter and art professor at the St. Petersburg Imperial Academy of Arts. His work consists primarily of portraits and genre scenes. Biography He was the son of a wealthy landowner and began school in Odessa, where his artistic talent was discovered and he began taking lessons at the local drawing school. From 1876 to 1880, he attended the Imperial Academy of Arts, where he studied with Pavel Chistyakov. He was considered to be a good student, but often left the academy to paint at the family estate. At this time, he successfully defied his family's wishes and married a working-class woman who was employed there. Following graduation, he was a frequent exhibitor throughout Russia and Ukraine and received numerous commissions. Among his portrait sitters were Peter Tchaikovsky and Élie Metchnikoff. During this time, he was a frequent visitor to the Abramtsevo Colony. Because of his large, wrestler's physique, he often served as a model for other painters.