Arkhip received no former training. He worked in I. Aivazovsky's studio in Feodosia (1865-66). Then attended Academy of Arts for a while. In 1878 he received a title of an Artist. Member of the Academy in 1893. Arkhip became a professor and head of landscape studio at Higher Art School of the Academy in 1894-97.
The Artist lived in Crimea and St Petersburg. He was founder of the society in his own name(1908) to which he donated substantial funds to support Russian artists and left his paintings to it. Kuindzhi was a member of Traveling Art Exhibits but he also showed his works independently - especially in 1880, showing his famous Moonlight on the Dniepr.
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| Moonlit Night on the Dnieper,1880. Oil on canvas.105x144cm. Russian Museum |
In later work, Kuindzhi searched for new, expressive
ways of depicting nature. After stopping participating in exhibitions and closing his
studio for visitors, he devoted himself to experimentation.
1890s-1900s He worked on small
studies distinguished by romantic interpretation of the subject and by decorative
solutions.
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| On Valaam,1873, Oil on canvas, 110x75cm, Tula Art Museum, since1966 |
The Artist depicted a rocky shore of the Ladoga Lake. The island of Valaam attracted many artists by its unusual natural beauty.
