Evgraf Semenovich Sorokin, or Yevgraf Semyonovich Sorokin (Russian: Евгра́ф Семёнович Соро́кин; 18 December 1821, Nekrasovskoye (Bolshie Soli) – 1892, Moscow) was a Russian artist and teacher; known for historical, religious and genre paintings.
His first exposure to art came from an icon painterinYaroslavl. After a period of apprenticeship, a local priest who liked his work suggested that he create a painting of Peter the Great discovering the artist, Andrey Matveyev, for an upcoming visit by Tsar Nicholas I.[2] This painting was presented to the Tsar, who was sufficiently impressed to issue an order that Sorokin should study at the Imperial Academy of Fine Arts.
In 1841, he entered the Academy under the supervision of Alexey Tarasovich Markov. The following year, he was already receiving praise from the Academy Council. He won several silver medals and, in 1847, was awarded a gold medal for his rendering of Daniel in the lions' den. Two years later, his painting of the folk hero, Ian Usmovets, won him a gold medal and a stipend to study abroad. He was in Spain from 1851 to 1854 and Italy from 1855 to 1859. In between, he toured Western Europe; visiting Egypt and Syria as well.[2] Some of the works he created in Spain are among his best-known.
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Media related to Evgraf Semenovich Sorokin at Wikimedia Commons
