mitriev-Kavkazsky Lev Evgrafovich
(Russian Caucasus 1849 - St. Petersburg 1916)
Bukharan Jews
Biography
Lev Evgrafovich Dmitriev-Kavkazsky was an engraver on copper, a graphic artist, and etcher. The artist added ‘Kavkazsky’ to his surname, stemming from his nickame ‘Caucasian’, since he was born in the Caucasus, to differentiate himself from other artists named Dmitriev. In 1869 he attended the Academy of Fine Arts, where he was taught by F. I. Jordan. He was awarded two academy silver medals for etchings of works after Rubens and Rembrandt. In 1883-1884 Dmitriev-Kavkazsky edited the illustrated journal Swallow, in which reproductions by predominantly Russian artists were used. Subsequently, for three years, he contributed to the journal World illustration. In 1887 Dmitriev-Kavkazsky was one of the founders of the Society of Russian Illustrators.
In the summer of 1887 he travelled to Central Asia as a result of which he completed more than 65 engravings. The majority of these works were assembled into the well-known collection of the senator E. E. Reytern. In 1910 artist David Kakabadze studied at Dmitriev-Kavkazsky’s St. Petersburg private art studio. Lev Dmitriev-Kavkazsky was well-known at this point as a famous artist, collector, and academician. In 1903 the young Pavel Filonov failed his entry examination to the Academy of Arts. Instead Filonov entered Lev Dmitriev-Kavkazsky’s private studio, where he studied anatomy and life drawing – Filonov then successfully entered the Academy. Dmitriev-Kavkazsky also taught Avilov, Apsit, and Kuprin.