Prianishnikov, Illarion Mikhailovich

Born Mar. 20 (Apr. 1), 1840, in the village of Timashovo, in present-day Kaluga Oblast; died Mar. 12 (24), 1894. Russian genre painter. Member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts (1893).

From 1856 to 1866, Prianishnikov studied with E. S. Sorokin and S. K. Zarianko at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture, and Architecture. He taught at the school from 1873 to 1894. His pupils included V. K. Bialynitskii-Birulia, S. V. Ivanov, and S. A. Korovin.

Prianishnikov was a founding member of the peredvizhniki (the “wanderers”—a progressive art movement). His paintings were marked by critical tendencies and well-aimed social commentary. Examples are The Jokers: Gostinyi Dvor in Moscow (1865, Tret’iakov Gallery, Moscow), Saviors’ Day in the North (1887, Tret’iakov Gallery), and Empty Railroad Cars (1871, Kharkov Art Museum). Prianishnikov’s painting In 1812 (1874 variant, Tret’iakov Gallery) depicts the role of the people in the Patriotic War of 1812. The artist also painted hunting scenes.