Akimov, Ivan
Akimov, Ivan Akimovich
Born May 22 (June 2), 1754, in St. Petersburg; died there on May 15 (27), 1814. Russian historical painter; a representative of classicism.
Akimov studied at the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts (1764–73) with A. P. Losenko. From 1773 to 1778 he studied on a scholarship at the Academy of Art in Italy. He became an academician in 1782. Akimov taught at the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts from 1779 and was its director from 1796 to 1800. He was the first historiographer of Russian art.
His works include Great Prince Sviatoslav, Kissing His Wife and Children Upon His Return From the Dunai to Kiev (1773, Tret’iakov Gallery, Moscow) and Hercules at the Crossroads (1801, Russian Museum, Leningrad).