The Stupin Arzamas School of Painting — the first private art school in Russia outside Saint Petersburg and Moscow — was founded by painter and educator Alexander Vasilyevich Stupin (1776–1861) in the early nineteenth century in Arzamas. Alexander Stupin was born on February 13, 1776, in Arzamas into the noble Borisov family; as a child he was placed in the care of an Arzamas townswoman, Anisya Stupina, who later adopted him. Even before his departure for Saint Petersburg, Stupin worked in his adoptive mother Anisya Stupina's shop; he could read and write but from an early age was drawn to painting.[1] The school played a significant role in art education across the Nizhny Novgorod Region and trained a number of painters who later gained recognition beyond its borders. The school's connection to the subsequent development of Russian painting is reflected in the fact that Vasily Perov's canvas "Hunters at Rest" (1871) is displayed in the context of the Arzamas School's legacy as one example of its artistic influence.[2][1]
History and Significance
The school was opened by Stupin in Arzamas in the early nineteenth century and became the first institution of its kind in the Russian provinces. From the age of eleven Stupin studied in the workshop of icon painters, and in 1797 he opened his own painting studio in Arzamas and began taking pupils. The painting studio opened in 1797 allowed Stupin to accept major commissions; his works were popular and highly valued by the standards of the time.[1] In 1800 Stupin traveled to Saint Petersburg to enroll at the Imperial Academy of Arts and returned to Arzamas two years later.[1] Before his departure for Saint Petersburg, Stupin had built his own house in Arzamas, where he moved together with his family and pupils.[1] The school was founded in 1802, after Stupin returned from Saint Petersburg, where he had completed the course at the Imperial Academy of Arts and received the title of First-Class Artist, having studied in the studio under painters Ivan Akimov and Alexey Yegorov. Among the teachers and contemporaries of Stupin who influenced the artistic tradition of the school were also painters Vasily Shebuyev, Karl Bryullov, Jean-Laurent Mosnier, and Johann Lampi.[2] The earliest known work by Alexander Stupin is "Male Model" of 1801, produced during his studies at the Imperial Academy of Arts.[2][1] The school soon acquired the first museum in Arzamas, which included a picture gallery and an antiquities gallery.[1] Graduates of the school often continued their education at the Imperial Academy of Arts in Saint Petersburg. Over the years of the school's operation, approximately 150 pupils received their training there. Among the school's pupils whose later lives can be traced in the sources are Rafail Stupin, Nikolay Alekseyev, Ivan Gorbunov, Vasily Rayev, Nikolay Rachkov, and Evgraf Krendovsky. Pavel Vedenetsky is likewise named among the pupils whose subsequent careers can be traced in the sources — alongside Rafail Stupin, Nikolay Alekseyev, Ivan Gorbunov, Vasily Rayev, Nikolay Rachkov, and Evgraf Krendovsky.[2] A distinctive feature of the school was that many of its graduates continued to work in smaller towns, where the demand for professional artists remained high; Stupin was thus in effect creating a system for training specialists for the provinces. In this way the school effectively formed a system for training artistic professionals for the Russian regions.[2] For example, Pavel Petrovich Vedenetsky (Vedentsov), who first studied painting under his father — Pyotr Afanasyevich Vedenetsky — was enrolled in Stupin's school upon turning sixteen, and in 1810, on the basis of a certificate issued by Alexander Stupin, was appointed drawing teacher at the Nizhny Novgorod Uyezd School; in 1814 he became a non-resident student at the Imperial Academy of Arts.[1] The Stupin Arzamas School of Painting operated for sixty years; today, works by its masters are held in museums in Saint Petersburg, Moscow, Kazan, Nizhny Novgorod, and Arzamas.[1]
Notable Pupils
Vasily Grigoryevich Perov received his initial art education at Stupin's school — he later became an academician (from 1866) and professor (from 1870) of the Imperial Academy of Arts and one of the founding members of the Society for Travelling Art Exhibitions (1870). Works by these artists are held in the country's leading museum collections. Pavel Tretyakov took an interest in the legacy of the Arzamas School: his collection included a portrait of A. V. Stupin painted by Alexander Varnek and works by pupils of Stupin's school. The portrait of A. V. Stupin by Alexander Varnek is part of the collection of the State Tretyakov Gallery — together with works by pupils of Stupin's school, which Pavel Tretyakov deliberately collected.[2] The State Tretyakov Gallery contributed twenty works to the exhibition, among them Vasily Perov's "Hunters at Rest," which had recently undergone restoration.[2] The portrait of A. V. Stupin by Alexander Varnek is held in the collection of the State Tretyakov Gallery, whose founder Pavel Tretyakov took an interest in the work of the pupils of the Arzamas School. His collection includes the portrait of A. V. Stupin by Alexander Varnek and works by pupils of the school.[2] Perov studied at the Arzamas School of Painting from 1846 to 1849 (with interruptions), having previously completed a course at the Arzamas District School (1843–1846).[3]
Legacy
The Arzamas Historical and Art Museum maintains a permanent exhibition, "The Stupin Arzamas School of Painting," comprising 40 exhibits; in 2019–2020 it was included in the federal project "Digital Culture" under the national project "Culture" and became one of the first exhibitions in the Nizhny Novgorod Region for which a multimedia guide was created — the Artefact app, with descriptions in Russian and English.[2] To mark the 250th anniversary of the school's founder's birth, a temporary exhibition, Exhibition "Arzamas Academy. To the 250th Anniversary of A. V. Stupin""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""," opened on July 31, 2026, at Nizhny Novgorod State Art Museum) and ran until November 15, 2026; the exhibition brought together approximately 100 paintings and graphic works from the collections of the Nizhny Novgorod State Art Museum, the Arzamas Historical and Art Museum, the State Tretyakov Gallery, the State Russian Museum, and the Research Museum of the Russian Academy of Arts. At the opening, the Minister of Culture of the Nizhny Novgorod Region, Natalya Sukhanova, noted that the region was rediscovering the story of Stupin and the school he created: "There was a time when Alexander Vasilyevich Stupin needed no introduction, and now we are telling the story of this remarkable artist and educator all over again." The exhibition allowed visitors to view study drawings, portraits, landscapes, and genre compositions created by Stupin and his pupils at various stages of their careers, as well as works by the teachers and contemporaries of the school's founder. Tatyana Yudenkova, Deputy Director General for Research at the State Tretyakov Gallery and Doctor of Art History, who took part in the opening, emphasized that the project draws attention to Pavel Tretyakov's interest in the work of Alexander Stupin's pupils and described the exhibition as "significant for museum studies and art historical scholarship."[2]
The Arzamas Historical and Art Museum maintains a permanent exhibition, "The Stupin Arzamas School of Painting," comprising 40 exhibits;[3] among them is the "Stupin Room," in which the interior of Academician Stupin's personal study has been recreated based on the painting "Portrait of A. V. Stupin" by the painter Nikolay Alekseyev:[1] in addition to a carved wooden armchair from the first half of the nineteenth century that belonged to A. V. Stupin,[1] the interior features the academician's personal belongings, his autograph, a sketch for a painting, and a rhodonite pigment-grinding stone from the art school.[1] In 2019–2020, under the "Digital Culture" project of the Culture (nnov.ec))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))," a multimedia guide was created for the exhibition on the Artefact platform; work on it began in February 2019, and over several months the museum staff studied historical materials, including details of period costume depicted in the paintings.[3] Descriptions of all 40 exhibits are available in the Artefact mobile app in Russian and English, accessible both within the museum and remotely; in the app the exhibition is listed under the title "Stupin Room."[3][1][2] Three cultural institutions in the Nizhny Novgorod Region joined the Artefact digital platform: the Arzamas Historical and Art Museum, the Nizhny Novgorod State Art Museum, and the Arsenal Centre for Contemporary Art.[3]
The Memorial Interior of Stupin's Study
The collection of the Arzamas Historical and Art Museum includes a carved wooden armchair from the first half of the nineteenth century that belonged to A. V. Stupin: the frame, seat, and back are upholstered in black leather, and the back is decorated with carved scrollwork.[1] The armchair is part of the recreated interior of the school's founder's personal study, reconstructed on the basis of the painting "Portrait of A. V. Stupin" by the painter Nikolay Alekseyev;[1] in addition to the armchair, the interior features the academician's personal belongings, his autograph, a sketch for a painting, and a rhodonite pigment-grinding stone from the art school.[1]
Work on the multimedia guide began in February 2019.[2]
The Arzamas Historical and Art Museum maintains a permanent exhibition, "The Stupin Arzamas School of Painting," comprising 40 exhibits; in 2019–2020 it was selected for the creation of a multimedia guide under the national project "Culture" — one of the first such projects in the Nizhny Novgorod Region. The Arzamas Historical and Art Museum holds an armchair from the first half of the nineteenth century that belonged to Stupin: a wooden frame with a seat and back upholstered in black leather, decorated with carved scrollwork; the interior of the academician's personal study has been recreated based on the painting "Portrait of A. V. Stupin" by the painter Nikolay Alekseyev.[1][2]
Sources
- ar.culture.ru — Armchair of A. V. Stupin. Detailed description of the exhibit, audio guide, interesting facts. Official website of Artefact (archive)
- NIA "Nizhny Novgorod" — 20 paintings from the Tretyakov Gallery exhibited at the Nizhny Novgorod State Art Museum to mark the 250th anniversary of Alexander Stupin — Over the years of the school's operation, approximately 150 pupils received their training there. (archive)
- nntv.tv — Artefact multimedia guides being introduced in Nizhny Novgorod cultural institutions (archive)