Summer Landscape

Alexei Kondratyevich Savrasov (Russian: Алексе́й Кондра́тьевич Савра́сов; 24 May [O.S. 12 May] 1830 – 8 October [O.S. 26 September] 1897) was a Russian landscape painter and creator of the lyrical landscape style. The most famous and a celebrated work is The Rooks Have Returned.

Savrasov was born in Moscow, Russian Empire, into the family of a merchant. He began to draw early and in 1838 he enrolled as a student of professor Karl Rabus at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture (MSPSA). He graduated in 1850 and immediately began to specialize in landscape painting.

In 1852, he traveled to Ukraine. Then, in 1854 by the invitation of the Grand Duchess Maria Nikolayevna, President of the Imperial Academy of Arts, he moved to the neighborhood of St. Petersburg. In 1857, Savrasov became a teacher at the MSPSA. His best students, Isaac Levitan and Konstantin Korovin, remembered their teacher with admiration and gratitude.

In 1857, he married Sophia Karlovna Hertz, sister of the art historian Karl Hertz (1820-1883). In their home they entertained artistic people and collectors including Pavel Tretyakov. Savrasov became especially close with Vasily Perov.