Isaak Lwowitsh Ashknazii was born in 1856 and passed in 1902. Isaak was born into a wealthy Hasidic Jewish family in Russia. He showed an early talent for drawing and attended the Imperial Academy of Arts in Saint Petersburg at the age of fourteen.

He won several medals for his artwork and was mentored by sculptor Mark Antokolsky. Ashknazii was awarded a scholarship to study abroad for four years, during which he visited Italy, Germany, and Austria. Isaak continued to focus on Jewish themes in his artwork, but faced financial hardship as his work was not popular with Russian Jews. He refused commissions that went against his beliefs and found success selling his work abroad, particularly in the United States.