Ivan Akimovich Akimov (2 June 1754 – 27 May 1814) was a Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

n Neoclassical

Neoclassicism

Neoclassicism is the name given to Western movements in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that draw inspiration from the "classical" art and culture of Ancient Greece or Ancient Rome...

 painter who studied under Anton Losenko

Anton Losenko

Anton Pavlovich Losenko was a Ukrainian Neoclassical painter who lived in Imperial Russia and who specialized in historical subjects and portraits.- Life :...

 and then worked in the Saint Petersburg Academy of Arts, capping off his career as its director in 1796-1800. Akimov may be considered the first art historian in Russia: in 1804 he published a series of biographies of Russian painters.

Biography

Ivan was born to a family of a typesetter of the Senate

Governing Senate

The Governing Senate was a legislative, judicial, and executive body of Russian Monarchs, instituted by Peter the Great to replace the Boyar Duma and lasted until the very end of the Russian Empire. It was chaired by the Ober-Procurator...

 typography in Saint-Petersburg. At the age of ten he wrote a doleful letter asking to be admitted to the Imperial Academy of Arts

Imperial Academy of Arts

The Russian Academy of Arts, informally known as the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts, was founded in 1757 by Ivan Shuvalov under the name Academy of the Three Noblest Arts. Catherine the Great renamed it the Imperial Academy of Arts and commissioned a new building, completed 25 years later in 1789...

 and was indeed admitted into students. In 1764-1773 he studied at the Academy. In 1773 he received the Gold Medal for his painting Svyatoslav's return from the Danube to his family in Kiev and was sent to Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 where he studied until 1779. From 1780 to 1800 he worked as a faculty at the Imperial Academy of Arts. In 1782 he was elected as an academician of the Academy. Since 1791 he was the director of the Imperial Tapestry

Tapestry

Tapestry is a form of textile art, traditionally woven on a vertical loom, however it can also be woven on a floor loom as well. It is composed of two sets of interlaced threads, those running parallel to the length and those parallel to the width ; the warp threads are set up under tension on a...

 Manufactory and also teaches art to daughters of Paul I of Russia

Paul I of Russia

Paul I was the Emperor of Russia between 1796 and 1801. He also was the 72nd Prince and Grand Master of the Order of Malta .-Childhood:...

. From 1794 to 1800 he was the director of the Academy.