Nikolay Shilder

Who was Nikolay Shilder?

Nikolay Gustavovich Shilder was a Russian painter.

Schilder was born to a Baltic German father. When Pavel Tretyakov bought his painting The Temptation in 1856, it marked the start of his collection which later turned into the Tretyakov Gallery.

Shilder graduated from the Imperial Academy of Arts in Saint Petersburg. He became an academician of the Academy in 1861. Under the influence of Pavel Fedotov he painted a series of paintings devoted to the life of ordinary people. The most notable are The Temptation that started the Tretyakov Gallery and the Forced Marriage. He also painted ceremonial portraits including the portrait of tsar Alexander III of Russia.