Viktor Hartmann
Architect
Nineteenth-century architect and painter associated with the Abramtsevo Colony and the Russian Revival. He and Ivan Ropet pioneered the inclusion of traditional Russian motifs in their works.
He studied at St. Petersburg's Academy of Fine Arts and shortly thereafter worked as both a book illustrator and an architect. He was involved with the monument to the thousandth anniversary of Russia in Novgorod.
He composed most of his watercolors and pencil drawings between 1864 and 1868 while traveling.
His parents died when he was young, and he was primarily raised by his maternal aunt and his architect uncle after he was orphaned. He died of a brain aneurysm at the young age of thirty-nine.
His paintings were given an 1874 exhibition at St. Petersburg's Academy of Fine Arts; this served as the inspiration for "Pictures at an Exhibition," composer Modest Mussorgsky's suite.