Gavrila Ivanovich Skorodumov

Born Mar. 12 (23), 1755, in St. Petersburg; died there July 12 (23), 1792. Russian engraver and painter of miniatures.

Skorodumov studied at the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts from 1764 to 1773. From 1773 to 1782 he received a stipend to study at the Royal Academy of Arts in London, where he worked first under the direction of F. Bartolozzi and later independently. He became an academician in 1785.

Skorodumov was the first artist to work in stipple and color engraving in Russia. His engravings, some of which are based on his own drawings, are outstanding in their elegance and delicacy of technical devices. Some resemble sanguines or bister drawings. Skorodumov also executed a series of pen drawings and miniature portraits in watercolor.