Fedor A. Vasilev

February 28, 2019

Fedor Aleksandrovich Vasilev was a Russian landscape painter who was born on February 22, 1850, in Gatchina, Russia. His dad was a low ranking government official.

Having to work from the age of 12, Vasilev was a mailman, scribe and an assistant to an art restorer. After the death of his father he became the sole supporter of his family.

He started to take evening classes at the Society For Promotion of Artists' School of Painting in 1863. While attending these classes, Vasilev, he met many painters who took care of him.

In 1866, famous landscape painter Ivan Shishkin, fell in love with Vasilev's sister and began to teach him landscape painting.

Vasilev and Shishkin worked together between July and November 1867, on the island of Vallam. As a result of his friendship with Shishkin, Vasilev was introduced to other famous Russian painters and art collectors.

After painting Thaw in 1871, Vasilev became famous with the Russian royal family ordering a copy. Unfortunately, he was unable to enjoy his fame as he was diagnosed with tuberculosis and had to leave Saint Petersburg for the Crimea.

It took him a long time to get used to his new surroundings and he painted landscapes from the plains of Russia. Eventually he got used to his new surroundings and started painting landscapes of the Crimea.

On October 6, 1873, at the age of 23 Vasilev passed away in Yalta.

Sources:
Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fyodor_Vasilyev