Tropinin, Vasilii

Tropinin, Vasilii [Тропінін, Василій], b 30 March 1776 or 1780 in Karpovo, Novgorod gubernia, Russia, d 15 May 1857 in Moscow. Russian painter. He was born a serf and was sent to study at the Saint Petersburg Academy of Arts (1798–1804). He then lived on his owner's estate in Kukavka, Mohyliv county, Podilia gubernia (1804–12, 1818–21), where he painted icons and portraits of Ukrainian peasants, such as A Girl from Podilia, Peasant Woman, Ustym Karmeliuk, Wedding in Kukavka, and Young Ukrainian Peasant. In 1823 he was given his freedom, and in 1824 he moved to Moscow and was elected a member of the Academy of Arts.

[This article originally appeared in the Encyclopedia of Ukraine, vol. 5 (1993).]