Vladimir Makovsky

“...We met quite often, and the way he seemed to me at first has stayed unchanged in my memory.
In my youth I desperately wanted to study painting, but for a long time I couldn’t get into the Moscow School of Painting. The artists I knew assured me that my preparation was good, yet the moment I came to the exam, I failed again.
Then they advised me to approach Makovsky, who at that time was the senior teacher at the school, and show him my work. They said that if he approved of it, I could be admitted without an exam—something that had happened before. At the appointed time I waited for Makovsky on the staircase leading to his studio, and I was terribly nervous. Finally I saw him coming up himself, carrying a box of paints. I greeted him and, blushing, explained why I’d come, asking him to take a look at my work…”