Vladimir Borovikovsky
Vladimir Lukich Borovikovsky entered the world on the 24th of July 1757 in Mirgorod. This town sat within the Cossack Hetmanate of the Russian Empire. His father Luka Borovik worked as an icon-painter for local churches. Family tradition held that all four sons served as Cossacks in the Mirgorod regiment. Vladimir retired early from military service at the rank of poruchik to pursue art instead. He lived in this same town until 1788 while painting icons and portraits in the Cossack Baroque style.
The year 1788 marked a turning point when Empress Catherine II visited newly conquered Crimea. Her friend Vasily Kapnist prepared rooms in Kremenchuk and asked Borovikovsky to paint two allegoric works. These paintings depicted Peter I and Catherine II sowing seeds alongside Catherine II as Minerva. The Empress loved these images so much she requested he move to Saint Petersburg immediately. After September 1788 he resided there and changed his surname from Borovik to Borovikovsky. For ten years he lived with Prince Nikolay Lvov whose ideas shaped his artistic direction.
Borovikovsky painted with his left hand throughout his career. This physical trait influenced the unique texture found in his brushwork. His work combined classicist structure with sentimental emotional depth. In female portraits he embodied the era's ideal of beauty through subtle inner world conveyance. Chamber portraits dominated his output during the late 1790s. A specific canvas titled Catherine II for a walk in the Tsarskoselsky park earned him academician status in 1795. He often relied on assistants to complete less important parts of large commissions while maintaining control over key features.
His sitters included members of the imperial family, courtiers, generals, and many aristocrats. Notable commissioned works spanned from 1794 to 1802 including portraits of E. N. Arsenyeva and M. I. Lopukhina. He also painted Paul I Emperor of Russia in 1800 alongside Princess A. G. Gagarina and Princess V. G. Gagarina in 1802. Serbian Prince Karadjordje received a portrait in 1816. Most surviving images number around 400 out of approximately 500 created during his lifetime. These intimate chamber portraits captured diverse feelings within limited emotional expression.
After 1819 Borovikovsky became a Freemason member of a lodge called Dying Sphinx. This shift redirected his focus toward religious iconography for cathedrals. He painted an Iconostasis for the Smolensky Cemetery church and several icons for Kazan Cathedral in Saint Petersburg. His later years saw him return to sacred painting after decades of secular portraiture. On the 6th of April 1825 he died suddenly of a heart attack while still active in these projects. He was interred in the Lazarevskoe Cemetery of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra.
Borovikovsky never taught formally at the Imperial Academy of Art yet pupils lived in his home. Among them were Alexey Venetsianov and Bugaevsky-Blagodarny who painted the only surviving portrait of Vladimir himself. The artist gave lessons to aspiring figures like Venetsianov before his death. Approximately 400 of his 500 portraits survived into the 21st century. His influence extended through mentorship rather than institutional teaching roles. These preserved works remain central to understanding Russian portraiture at the turn of the 19th century.
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Common questions
When and where was Vladimir Borovikovsky born?
Vladimir Lukich Borovikovsky entered the world on the 24th of July 1757 in Mirgorod. This town sat within the Cossack Hetmanate of the Russian Empire.
Why did Vladimir Borovikovsky move to Saint Petersburg in 1788?
Empress Catherine II requested he move to Saint Petersburg immediately after she loved his allegoric works depicting Peter I and herself sowing seeds alongside her as Minerva. He resided there after September 1788 and changed his surname from Borovik to Borovikovsky.
What specific painting earned Vladimir Borovikovsky academician status in 1795?
A canvas titled Catherine II for a walk in the Tsarskoselsky park earned him academician status in 1795. Chamber portraits dominated his output during the late 1790s while he embodied the era's ideal of beauty through subtle inner world conveyance.
How many portraits by Vladimir Borovikovsky survived into the 21st century?
Approximately 400 of his 500 portraits created during his lifetime survived into the 21st century. These intimate chamber portraits captured diverse feelings within limited emotional expression.
When did Vladimir Borovikovsky die and where was he interred?
On the 6th of April 1825 he died suddenly of a heart attack while still active in these projects. He was interred in the Lazarevskoe Cemetery of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra.