Varnek, Aleksandr
Varnek, Aleksandr Grigor’evich
Born Feb. 15 (26), 1782, in St. Petersburg; died there on Mar. 19 (31), 1843. Russian portrait painter.
Varnek studied at the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts (1795-1803) with D. G. Levitskii and S. S. Shchukin. From 1810 he was an academician and an instructor at the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts. From 1824 he was curator of the graphic arts department of the Hermitage. Varnek’s works reflect romantic tendencies. Among his paintings are the portrait of LP. Martos (1819, Scientific Research Museum of the Academy of Arts of the USSR, Leningrad) and Self Portrait in a Velvet Beret (Russian Museum, Leningrad). Varnek also painted genre portraits (Fiddler, Tret’iakov Gallery).