Russian painter, part of a family of artists. He was the son of the painter and collector Yegor Ivanovich Makovsky (1800-1886), who was one of the founders of the Moscow Art School. Konstantin had two brothers, Nikolai and Vladimir, and one sister, Alexandra, who were famous painters themselves. In 1851 Konstantin entered the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture where he became the top student, easily getting all the available awards. His teachers were pupils of Karl Bryullov, and Makovsky's inclinations to Romanticism and decorative effects can be explained by the influence of Bryullov. In 1858 Makovsky entered the Imperial Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg. From 1860 he participated in the exhibitions of Academy with paintings such as Curing of the Blind (1860) and Agents of the False Dmitry kill the son of Boris Godunov (1862). In 1863 Makovsky, together with the other 13 students eligible to participate in the competition for the Large Gold Medal of the Academy, refused to paint on the set topic in Scandinavian mythology and instead left the Academy without a formal diploma. Makovsky became a member of a co-operative (artel) of artists led by Ivan Kramskoi, typically producing paintings on everyday life (Widow 1865, Herring-seller 1867, etc.). He was affiliated with the 'Wanderers', and was a founding member of the Society for Traveling Art Exhibitions. He exhibited his works on both the Academy exhibitions and the Travelling Art Exhibitions. A significant change in his style occurred after traveling to Egypt and Serbia in the mid-1870s. His interests changed from social and psychological problems to the artistic problems of colours and shape. In the 1880s he became a fashioned author of portraits and historical paintings. Many of his historical paintings, such as The Russian Bride's Attire, showed an idealized view of Russian life of prior centuries. At the World's Fair of 1889 in Paris he received the Large Gold Medal for his paintings Death of Ivan the Terrible, The Judgement of Paris and Demon and Tamara. He was one of the most highly appreciated and highly paid Russian artists of the time. He is often considered a representative of Salon art. Makovsky became a victim of a road accident (his horse-driven carriage was hit by an electric tram) and died in 1915 in Saint Petersburg. //