VARKA​

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This is a rendition of Kirill Vikentievich Lemoka's painting, Varka (Child With A Doll). It is an enchanting depiction of a young child, seemingly content and playing with her little doll. 

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by KIRILL VIKENTIEVICH LEMOKA  1841-1910

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From 1851 to 1856, Kirill Vikentievich Lemoka studied at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture under Yegor Yakovlevich Vasiliev. In 1856, he entered the Imperial Academy of Arts, where he studied history painting with Pyotr Basin and Alexey Tarasovich Markov.

Seven years later, in 1863, he participated in what came to be known as the "Revolt of the Fourteen", a protest by those who preferred the Realistic style over the Classical style being promoted by the Academy. As a result, he withdrew from the Academy with the degree of Artist Second-Class. He joined the Artel of Artists, led by Ivan Kramskoi. Five years later, he entered an Academy competition and became an Artist FirstClass. From that point on, he earned his living by giving drawing lessons to aristocratic families. He accepted an invitation to give private drawing lessons to the children of future Tsar Alexander III and continued to do so for many years. He became a member of the Academy in 1893, received a life pension and became a curator for the art collection at the Russian Museum until his retirement in 1909. He died in 1910.