Artist Introduction: Vasily Dmitrievich Polenov (Russian: 1 June 1844 - 18 July 1927) was a Russian landscape painter associated with the Peredvizhniki movement of realist artists.
BiographyA native of St.Petersburg, Polenov studied under Pavel Chistyakov and in the Imperial Academy of Arts from 1863 to 1871. He was classmate and close friend to Rafail Levitsky, fellow Peredvizhniki artist and famous photographer. Their letters which remain today in Polenov's house museum are an interesting account of the many art exhibitions, movements and artists of their day.