Igor Emmanuilovich Grabar was born in Budapest (then the Austro-Hungarian Empire, now Hungary) in 1871. His parents, and grand-parents, were active participants of the Slav liberation movement and were persecuted by the government. The little boy saw his parents very rarely. In 1876 his father had to flee to Russia; his wife and the boy follow in 1880.

In 1882, after graduating from a gymnasium in the provincial town of Egorievsk, Grabar studied in the Moscow Lyceum, where, along with academic studies he learnt painting, studied art, visited galleries and exhibitions and made acquaintances with artists, art patrons and critics. His classmates and teachers in the Lyceum served as models for his first paintings; he was also fond of la...