Portrait of the Artist Nikolai Dmitrievich Dmitriev-Orenburg 1866

Ivan Kramskoy drew this portrait of the artist Nikolai Dmitrievich Dmitriev-Orenburg in 1866. Kramskoy captures not just Dmitriev-Orenburg’s likeness, but also the spirit of a progressive artistic movement in Russia. This drawing was made at a time of great social and cultural change in Russia, when artists were beginning to question the traditional academic style and to seek new ways of representing the world around them. Kramskoy himself was a key figure in this movement, which aimed to create art that was more relevant to the lives of ordinary people and to promote social reform. Here, the image is direct, honest, and unidealized. It reflects the values of the realist movement, which sought to portray life as it was, without embellishment or sentimentality. As historians, we can use sources from the time, such as letters and journals, to gain a deeper understanding of the social and cultural context in which this drawing was made. Only then we can fully appreciate its significance as a work of art and as a historical document.