他出生在一个重男轻女的强烈商人家庭。他的父亲是一个布店和匠拿出，但一直对历史和文学有着浓厚的兴趣。这样一来，他同情他的儿子成为一名艺术家的愿望，但他坚称，他第一次掌握实用技能，并在1874年，他在就读，他被送往莫斯科Voskresensky 实科中学。

1877年，他的顾问建议他转移到绘画，雕塑莫斯科学校建筑，在那里他与帕维尔·索罗金，Illarion Pryanishnikov和瓦西里·佩罗夫，[1]谁是他最喜欢的老师。1879年，他开始参加学校的展览。两年后，他进入美术翰林院，在那里他曾与帕维尔·奇斯佳科夫。他在教学中有失望，返回莫斯科，才发现佩罗夫在临终前，让他带着教训阿历克塞·贡德拉特维奇·萨伏拉索夫。

短暂停留在乌法，在那里他遇见了他未来的妻子玛丽亚后，他返回莫斯科，并与研究弗拉基米尔Makovsky。虽然创造了一系列历史画，他支持自己做插图发表杂志和书籍阿列克谢Stupin，包括童话故事的集合普希金。1885年，他被授予“自由艺术家”和结婚，对他父母的愿望。次年，他的妻子生下了女儿，奥尔加后死亡。他的一些作品从这一时期的特点妻子的形象。

他的第一次重大成功，带着他的画，这显示了在巡回展览画派的展览第十七1889年它被购买的“隐士” 帕维尔·特列季亚科夫和钱使涅斯捷罗夫采取扩展前往奥地利，德国，法国和意大利。回国后，他的画“的愿景，以青年巴塞洛缪”，率先在一系列关于生命的作品圣谢尔盖，显示了在十八巡回展览画派展览，还特列季亚科夫购买。该系列最终将包括15大画布，并占据了他五十年。

1905年，经过大革命开始后，他加入了联盟的俄罗斯人，一个支持沙皇一个极端的右翼民族主义政党。因此，他在经过一些危险十月革命。1918年，他移居到阿尔马维尔，他病倒了，无法正常工作。他于1920年返回莫斯科，并被迫放弃宗教画，虽然他继续他的圣谢尔盖系列私下工作。从那时起直到他去世，他画的肖像大部分; 值得注意的是伊万·伊林，巴甫洛夫，奥托·施密特，谢尔盖·尤金，阿列克谢Shchusev和维拉Mukhina设计。

1938年，朝年底大清洗，他的儿子，女婿，弗拉基米尔施罗特，著名律师，被指控为间谍枪毙。他的女儿被送到战俘营江布尔，在那里，她被释放前被残忍地审问。他也被逮捕，并举行了两个星期Butyrka监狱。
1941年，他被授予了斯大林奖为他巴甫洛夫的画像（1935年创建）。这是给一个艺术家的第一个。不久，他接到了劳动红旗勋章。随着战争的进行，他的健康状况和财务状况迅速恶化。他得了中风在他的油画作品“秋村”的工作，而在博金医院去世。

他未完成的回忆录，这是他在1926年就已经开始，分别在当年晚些时候的标题是“过去的日子”中公布。1962年，他用邮票荣幸。1996年，他的肖像出现在50 乌拉尔法郎钞票，并在2015年，一个纪念碑，以他在巴什基尔州立艺术博物馆乌法揭幕。
 

He was born in a patriarchal family strong businessman. His father was a carpenter and draper out, but has been on the history and literature have a strong interest. In this way, he sympathized with his son's desire to become an artist, but he insisted that he mastered the practical skills for the first time, and in 1874, he was enrolled in the school, he was sent to Moscow Voskresensky.
In 1877, his advisors advised him to move to the school of painting, sculpture, Moscow, where he worked with Pavel, Pryanishnikov, Illarion, and, who was his favorite teacher of [1]. In 1879, he began to attend the school exhibition. Two years later, he entered the art academy, where he worked with Pavel Kistiakow. He was disappointed in the teaching to return to Moscow, only to find Perloff before his death, let him take lessons when Alexis Kundlattevich Savlasov.
A short stay in UFA, where he met his future wife Maria after he returned to Moscow, and Makovsky and Vladimir. While creating a series of historical paintings, he supported himself by doing illustrations published in magazines and books by Alexei Stupin, including the collection of fairy tales by Pushkin. In 1885, he was awarded the "free artist" and married to his parents' wishes. The following year, his wife gave birth to a daughter, died after Olga. Some of his works from this period are characterized by the image of his wife.
His first major success, with his paintings, which shows in the Peredvizhniki exhibition in 1889 seventeenth it was to buy the "hermit" Pavel Tretyakov and Nesterov make money take extended to Austria, Germany, France and Italy. After returning home, his painting "the vision of young Bartholomew", first in a series of works about the life of Saint Sergei, shows in eighteen Peredvizhniki exhibition, Tretyakov also buy. The series will eventually include 15 canvases and occupy him for over fifty years.
In 1905, after the beginning of the revolution, he joined the alliance of the Russians, an extremist right-wing nationalist party to support the tsar. [source request] so he went through some dangerous October revolution. In 1918, he moved to Armavir, he fell ill, unable to work properly. He returned to Moscow in 1920 and was forced to abandon religious painting, although he continued his private work in the San Sergei series. From then until his death, he painted portraits of the majority; it is worth noting that Ivan Elaine, Pavlov, Otto Schmidt, Sergei Eugene, Alexei Shchusev and Vera Mukhina design.
By the end of 1938, in the purges of his son, son-in-law, Vladimir Schrott, a famous lawyer, accused of being a spy. His daughter was sent to camp dzhambul, where she was brutally interrogated before being released. He was also arrested and held for two weeks at Butyrka prison.
In 1941, he was awarded the Stalin prize for the portrait of Tha Pavlov (founded in 1935). This is the first for an artist. Soon, he received a red flag of labor. As the war went on, his health and financial condition deteriorated rapidly. He had a stroke in his painting "Autumn Village", and died in the hospital of bo.
His unfinished memoir, which he had begun in 1926, was published in the later days of the title "past days". In 1962, he was honored with a stamp. In 1996, his portrait appeared in the 50 Ural Franc notes, and in 2015, a monument to him in the State Museum of art Bash Gil unveiled the ufa.