Sokolov, Petr Fedorovich
Sokolov, Petr Fedorovich
Born 1791 in Moscow; died Aug. 3 (15), 1848, in the village of Staryi Merchik, now in Kharkov Oblast, Ukrainian SSR. Russian watercolorist.
From 1800 to 1810, Sokolov attended the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts. He worked mainly in St. Petersburg. Sokolov was the first Russian master of the pure watercolor portrait (without the use of whiting). This technique superseded the portrait miniature between 1820 and 1850. Sokolov’s works, for example, A. O. Vitali, Wife of the Sculptor I. P. Vitali (1838, Tret’iakov Gallery, Moscow), are marked by subtle characterization and a light and flowing technique.