Viktor Vasnetsov

Viktor Vasnetsov was a Russian artist who specialized in mythological and historical subjects. He is considered the co-founder of Russian folklorist and romantic modernist painting and a key figure in the revivalist movement. Vasnetsov started as a scene painter. In the early 1880s, he borrowed the subjects from ancient history and found another source of subjects in Russian mythology – legends, ballads, fairy tales. Thus Vasnetsov became the founder of new style in Russian painting and wasn't only the first artist to use subjects from folklore, but also the first to borrow methods and techniques from national folk art. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Vasnetsov actively worked in different fields. During the last 20 years of his life he turned again to his favourite lyrical subjects inspired by Russian fairy-tales. His painting influenced greatly the development of modernism and symbolism in Russian painting and poetry.