Mikhail Shibanov


Shibanov, Mikhail

 

Patronymic and date of birth unknown; died after 1789. Russian painter.

Shibanov, the son of serfs, was a “free painter” after 1783. He was a portraitist and the originator of peasant genre painting in Russian art. His pictures, which reveal the strong influence of nature, are painted in a direct manner. They depict peasants in a truly expressive style comparable to portraiture. Notable examples include Peasant Dinner (1774) and Wedding Celebration (1777), both in the Tret’iakov Gallery.

Shibanov painted portraits of A. G. Spiridov (1772, Tret’iakov Gallery), V. S. Popov (1784–85, Odessa Art Museum), and Catherine II and A. M. Dmitriev-Mamonov (both 1787, Russian Museum, Leningrad). From 1783 to 1786 he painted icons for the Cathedral of St. Catherine in Kherson (now housed in the Kherson Museum of Local Lore).

REFERENCES

Zhidkov, G. V. M. Shibanov. Moscow, 1954.
Alekseeva, T. V. “Mikhail Shibanov po novym materialam.” In her Issledovaniia i nakhodki. Moscow, 1976.