GRIGORY MYASOEDOV (1834-1911) In the Field

signed in Cyrillic ‘G Myasoedov’ (lower right) oil on canvas 22.5 x 43.5 cm Provenance: Sotheby's London, Russian Paintings, 04.06.2013, lot 137 Private collection, Europe Grigory Myasoedov was a prominent Russian realist painter and one of the founders of the Peredvizhniki movement. He studied at the Imperial Academy of Arts in Saint Petersburg, where he earned notable awards for his works, including gold medals for ‘Congratulations to the Newlyweds’ and ‘The Flight of Grigory Otrepyev,’ which granted him a scholarship to travel in Europe. After returning to Moscow, he became an Academician in 1869. It was Myasoedov who conceived the idea for the Peredvizhniki (Society of Wanderers). The first meeting of the Society took place in 1870, where Myasoedov joined the board and drafted the first charter of the Society of Traveling Art Exhibitions. Its inaugural exhibition was held in 1871 in St. Petersburg, and it subsequently travelled to Moscow, Kyiv, and Kharkov. After 1876, Myasoedov shifted his focus to rural life, moving to a farm near Poltava, where he created acclaimed landscapes that captured folk traditions. His works reflect the essence of rural life and the beauty of the natural environment. He passed away in 1911 at his estate near Poltava.