Mikeshin Mikhail Osipovich (1835-1896)

At present, rarely mentioned that the well-known domestic sculptor Mikhail Osipovich Mikeshin began as a painter of great promise.

 Born in the village of Maksimovka Roslavlskoye district of Smolensk province next academic sculpture boy of ten has been identified as a student of the local icon painter.
 At sixteen years old Misha Mikeshin entered the Academy of Arts, where he masters the battle-painting under the guidance of Professor VP Villevalde .

 His success at the Academy obvious. He consistently receives all student medals. His work is so professional that one of them, depicting horse grenadiers, buys Emperor Nicholas I, and commissioned by the Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna M. Mikeshin wrote six canvases depicting the daily life of the Don Cossacks.

 In 1858, the young artist graduated from the Academy with a gold medal and the title of class artist and the right to a six-year old pensioner's trip abroad. However, instead of a pensioner's travel at government expense to Europe, which had virtually no experience of independent work MO Mikeshin included in the competitive job of designing the Millennium Monument Russia, which should be installed in Veliky Novgorod. In the domestic visual arts was at a young painter less, but has increased by a remarkable sculptor. Project MO Mikeshina won 53 of the submitted works. In the subsequent series of remarkable projects on sites in Russia, and in Portugal, France, Serbia held sculptor glorified his name and Russian art.