Ivan Argunov
Ivan Argunov was born in 1729 into serfdom. His family belonged to the Counts Sheremetev, and he would remain in their service his entire life. Yet Argunov became one of the founders of the Russian school of portrait painting. He trained the artists who became the first faculty of the Imperial Academy of Arts. He also produced a canvas whose subject has never been identified. How a man without freedom shaped Russian art is worth examining closely.
Semyon Mikhaylovich Argunov, Ivan's uncle, managed the Sheremetev house on Millionnaya Street in Saint Petersburg. Semyon had previously worked as steward to Princess Cherkassky before holding the same post for the Counts Sheremetev. Ivan grew up inside that household, at the administrative heart of one of Russia's great noble estates.
Two cousins, Fedor Leontyevich Argunov and Fedor Semenovich Argunov, worked as painters in Saint Petersburg. They decorated the imperial residences. Their craft surrounded Ivan from childhood. Between 1746 and 1749, he received formal instruction from Georg Grooth, a German artist in the employ of Empress Elizabeth of Russia. His cousins taught him during this period as well.
Ivan's first surviving icons were created for the New Jerusalem Monastery in 1749. Icons for the church of the Catherine Palace in Tsarskoe Selo followed in 1753. His only known historical painting, Dying Cleopatra, belongs to these early years. His earliest surviving portraits identify their sitters by name: Prince Ivan Ivanovich Lobanov-Rostovsky in 1752, and Princess Ekaterina Alexandrovna Lobanova-Rostovskaya in 1754. In those canvases, the old Russian parsuna tradition and a newer Baroque influence occupy the same space. By the following decade, sitters from the most powerful circles in Russia were seeking him out.
The 1760s were Argunov's most productive decade. He created both parade portraits and psychological portraits. His subjects included Russian royalty, the Sheremetevs, and their relatives the Lazarevs and the Counts Tolstoy.
The Sheremetev family also commissioned portraits of their own dead, and Argunov became one of the creators of that genre in Russia. Posthumous portraiture required the painter to reconstruct a face without a living subject. Earlier likenesses, surviving descriptions, or the memories of those who had known the person had to serve in place of direct observation. Argunov's reputation for rendering the Sheremetevs extended, in this period, even to those who could no longer sit for him.
In 1770, Argunov took on the role of majordomo for the Sheremetev house on Millionnaya Street. He then held the same position at their Moscow house, and later served as one of the stewards of their estates. Administrative duties occupied the years that might otherwise have gone to painting. His output thinned to almost nothing.
In 1784, he completed what became his most celebrated work: Portrait of an Unknown Woman in Peasant Dress. The identity of the sitter has never been confirmed. Studies have proposed she was Anna Kovalyova-Zhemchugova, a serf actress and singer in the service of the Counts Sheremetev. Others have argued she was simply an unidentified wet nurse drawn from the Sheremetev household. The painting offers no answer. Both readings remain hypotheses, and both have outlasted the painter himself.
Argunov began teaching painting in 1753, four years before the Imperial Academy of Arts opened in 1757. Anton Losenko and Fyodor Rokotov were among those he trained, and both went on to join the Academy's faculty. All four of the Academy's future teachers had studied under Argunov.
Nikolay Argunov, Yakov Argunov, and Pavel Argunov all trained under their father as well. Nikolay and Yakov became painters. Argunov died in Moscow in 1802. Pavel Argunov took a different direction from his brothers and became an architect.
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Common questions
Who was Ivan Argunov?
Ivan Argunov (1729-1802) was a Russian painter and teacher, born a serf of the Counts Sheremetev. He became one of the founders of the Russian school of portrait painting and trained all four of the future teachers of the Imperial Academy of Arts.
What is Ivan Argunov's most famous painting?
Portrait of an Unknown Woman in Peasant Dress, completed in 1784, is Argunov's most celebrated work. The identity of the sitter has never been confirmed. Scholars have proposed she was either Anna Kovalyova-Zhemchugova, a serf actress and singer of the Counts Sheremetev, or an unidentified wet nurse from the same household.
Was Ivan Argunov a serf?
Yes. Argunov was born in 1729 as a serf of the Counts Sheremetev and remained in their service until his death in Moscow in 1802. He served the family as a painter and later as majordomo and estate steward.
Who trained Ivan Argunov as a painter?
Argunov studied with Georg Grooth, a German artist employed by Empress Elizabeth of Russia, from 1746 to 1749. He also received instruction from his cousins Fedor Leontyevich Argunov and Fedor Semenovich Argunov, both painters working on the imperial residences in Saint Petersburg.
When did Ivan Argunov begin teaching and who were his students?
Argunov began teaching painting in 1753, four years before the Imperial Academy of Arts opened in 1757. His students included Anton Losenko and Fyodor Rokotov, both of whom became Academy teachers, and all four of the Academy's future teachers had studied under him. He also trained his three sons: Nikolay, Yakov, and Pavel Argunov.
What were Ivan Argunov's earliest known works?
His earliest surviving works are icons for the New Jerusalem Monastery (1749) and for the church of the Catherine Palace in Tsarskoe Selo (1753). His only known historical painting, Dying Cleopatra, also dates from this period. His earliest surviving portraits depict Prince Ivan Ivanovich Lobanov-Rostovsky (1752) and Princess Ekaterina Alexandrovna Lobanova-Rostovskaya (1754).