Vasily Surikov

Vasily Surikov (1848 - 1916) was a Russian Realist history painter. In 1868, he rode on horseback to Saint Petersburg but was unable to qualify for admission to the Imperial Academy of Arts, so he studied at the drawing school of the Imperial Society for the Encouragement of the Arts. After a year there, he was allowed to audit classes at the academy and became a full-time pupil toward the end of 1869.