Ilya Ostroukhov

Ilya Semyonovich Ostroukhov was a Russian landscape painter and art collector, associated with the Peredvizhniki.

Biography

He came from a family of well-to-do merchants. In 1870, he enrolled at the "". While there, he became interested in zoology and began a correspondence with Alfred Brehm. He also started an entomological collection that would later be donated to the University of Moscow, and wrote a short book called Angling for Fish.
He did not take his first art lessons until 1880, when he developed the desire to become a painter after seeing an exhibition of landscape paintings staged by the Peredvizhniki. Concerned that he was too old to begin attending art school, he sought someone to give him private lessons. An old acquaintance introduced him to Alexander Kiselyov, who at that time was working at a private girls' school and tutoring.
The following year, he felt confident enough to study with Ilya Repin. That Christmas, he worked together with Victor Vasnetsov, designing and creating decorations for a performance at the home of Savva Mamontov. After that, he became a regular visitor to Abramtsevo, sketching the landscapes and architecture.
Meanwhile, he applied at the Imperial Academy of Arts, but was only allowed to audit classes. In the evenings he studied drawing at the Imperial Society for the Encouragement of the Arts and took more lessons from Repin. Through 1884, he also spent some time in the workshop of Pavel Chistyakov. In 1886, he was able to study with Vladimir Makovsky at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture. That same year, he presented two paintings at the fourteenth exhibition of the Peredvizhniki and would exhibit with them regularly after that; becoming a member in 1891.

Collector

In addition to his work with the Tretyakov Gallery, he was a notable collector in his own right; beginning in the 1890s after he married into the wealthy family of tea merchants and acquired a large house as a dowry. He accumulated over 300 paintings and 500 drawings; mostly by Russian artists, but Degas, Manet, Renoir and Matisse were also represented. One of its highlights was The Allegory of Faith by Vermeer. He had a library of over 12,000 volumes as well; including a copy of the Divine Comedy from 1515 and a Decameron from 1757. In 1918, his collection was nationalized as a public museum and he was appointed curator for life.
By March 1929 when, as a former landlord, he found himself deprived of his voting rights, he was in very poor health and nearly blind. He died four months later. Shortly after, the museum was closed and his widow was limited to the use of two rooms in their home. She died in 1935. His collection was transferred to the Tretyakov Gallery. Later, the house was reopened as a branch of the "".