Ivan Kramskoy
(1837 – 1887)

For a long time Tolstoy resisted the idea of being painted. The only early image of him that we have is a sketch made in the 1840s by an unknown artist. In 1873, Ivan Kramskoy became the first painter to convince Tolstoy to pose for him. 

At the request of Tolstoy's wife, Kramskoy also painted a second portrait of the writer. The first portrait hangs in the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow, and the other one — at Iasnaia Poliana.

Find more about Kramskoy at www.abcgallery.com.