May 29

Vasily Perov

Vasily Grigorevich Perov (21 December 1833 – 29 May 1882) was a Russian painter and one of the founding members of Peredvizhniki, a group of Russian realist painters.

In 1856 he was awarded with a minor silver medal for his sketch of a boy's head, presented to the Imperial Academy of Arts. Later the Academy gave him many other awards: in 1857 a major silver medal for Commissary of Rural Police Investigating, a minor golden medal for the Scene on a Grave and the Son of a Dyak Promoted to First Rank, and in 1861 a major golden medal for Sermon in a Village.

After receiving the right to a state-paid trip abroad together with a golden medal, in 1862 Perov went to Western Europe, visiting several German cities, and then Paris. During this time he created paintings depicting scenes from European street life, such as the Vendor of statuettes, the Savoyard, the Organ-Grinder in Paris, the Musicians and the Bystanders, and the Paris Ragpickers.

Returning to Moscow early, from 1865 to 1871 Perov created his masterpieces The Queue at The Fountain, A Meal in the Monastery, Last Journey, Troika, the Lent Monday, Arrival of a New Governess in a Merchant House, the Drawing Teacher, A Scene at the Railroad, the Last Tavern at Town Gate, the Birdcatcher, theFisherman, and the Hunters at Rest.

In 1866 he received the title of an academician, and in 1871 the position of a Professor at Moscow School of Arts, Sculpture and Architecture. It was around this period that he joined the Peredvizhniki.

Perov died on 10 June (29 May Old Style), 1882 in the village Kuzminki (now part of Moscow) from tuberculosis. His body was interred at the Donskoe Cemetery.