Alexei Korin was born into a renowned family of Palekh icon painters. He studied at the School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture in Moscow under such well-known professors as the Sorokin brothers, Vladimir Makovsky and Vasily Polenov. Korin first exhibited with the Itinerants in 1891 and became a member of this association in 1894, the same year that he was appointed a drawing teacher at the Moscow School of Painting. In 1900-1910s the artist was active as a portraitist and enjoyed plentiful commissions.

In the Artist's Studio offers a rare insight into the Russian art world at the turn of the last century. Korin has depicted himself as the artist at the centre of the co...