Painter. He is remembered as a turn of the 20th century Russian painter, who painted in both oils and watercolors. He was a prolific artist of realism and art nouveau. Besides being a painter, he was a book illustrator and stage-set artist. Although he was born in an educated, financially stable family, his father, a schoolteacher, died when he was a child, leaving his mother to bear the burden of caring for him. After relocating to an apartment in a rich merchant's home, he made many memories of that household that later became the subject of his paintings. His talent was recognized at an early age and his mother worked for his education. His art education consisted of studying with Pavel Vlasov from 1893 to 1896. At the Imperial Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg, he studied painting at Ilya Repin's studio, sculpture with Dmitry Selletsky and etching under Vasiliy Mate. He assisted Repin in painting a large-scale canvas to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the State Council and would be assigned to finish other well-known artist's work. He first exhibited his own work in 1896. In 1903, he married Julia Proshinskaya and the couple had two children, who served as models for his paintings. With a grant from the Imperial Academy of Arts in 1904, he went to France and Italy to study art in numerous museums. In 1907 he traveled again to Italy to study, and in 1909 to Austria, Germany before France and Italy, staying for months. After the Russian Revolution of 1905, he became political, submitting articles, along with other artists and authors, to the Russian satirical magazine "Zhupe." After the death and destruction of the revolution, he created in 1906 a piece showing a huge skeleton covered with red blood, walking through the war-worn city, which was called "After She Dispersal of a Demonstration." He began to do book illustrations, which he continued to do at intervals throughout his life. He then painted the colorful "Village Festival" in 1907 and "Merrymaking on the Volga" in 1909. In 1909 Kustodiev was awarded the title of Academician of Art. After being diagnosed with tuberculosis of the spine, he went to Switzerland for treatment and had an operation, which failed. In 1912 he painted "Merchant Women," which was on display at the Kiev Museum of Russian Art. In 1915 he painted "The Merchant's Wife", which some consider his masterpiece. He painted self-portraits and as well as other noted Russians such as opera singer Feodor Chaliapin's 1921 portrait. In many of his paintings, he captured Russian markets with onion-shaped church domes in the background and busy shoppers wearing colorful folk clothing. Although his health declined steadily to the point that his legs were completely paralyzed, confining him to a wheelchair, he continued to paint. In 1913 he designed the sets and costumes for "The Death of Pazukhin" at the Moscow Art Theatre. His 1927 painting "Village Festival" is on display at the Metropolitan Museum in New York City. While many of his colleagues were escaping Russian Communism in exile, he stayed, remembering his home in Old Russia, yet suffering in deprivation for basic needs by staying. In the 21st century, some of his paintings are worth $1.5 million at auction.