Makhaev M.I., (1718-1770), Artist

Categories / Art/Fine Arts/Personalia
MAKHAEV Mikhail Ivanovich (1718-1770, St. Petersburg) was a graphic artist and engraver. He studied at the Admiralty School in 1729-31 and at the instrumental workshop of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences from 1731 to 1734. From 1734, he worked at the map and word-cutting workshop under engraver G. I. Unfezacht. He participated in the development of various types of the Russian prints. In the 1740s, he was trained at the drawing class of the Academy of Sciences under G. Valeriani studying in particular perspective. He drew panoramic views of St. Petersburg, Moscow and their outskirts intended for reproduction in prints. He executed drawings for the engraving album Plan of the Capital City St. Petersburg 1753, produced seven drawings of Kamenny Island (1753-57), a series of views of palaces in Peterhof, Oranienbaum and Tsarskoe Selo, from 1755 to 1761. For taking pictures he used a pinhole camera allowing him to reproduce the architectural landscape precisely. Skilled use of staffage, using animals and people to enliven the landscapes, and his desire to convey the sense of light and air, which was accomplished in his drawings, anticipated trends in landscape painting.

References: Виды Петербурга и его окрестностей середины XVIII века: Грав. по рис. М. Махаева. Л., 1968; Малиновский К. В. М. И. Махаев, 1718-1770. Л., 1978; Его же. Петербург в изображении М. И. Махаева. СПб., 2003; Алексеева М. А. Михайло Махаев - мастер видового рисунка XVIII века. СПб., 2003.

O. L. Leikind, D.Y. Severyukhin. Makhaev Mikhail Ivanovich
Unfezacht G.I.
Valeriani Giuseppe
Виды Петербурга и его окрестностей середины XVIII века: Грав. по рис. М. Махаева. Л., 1968
Малиновский К. В. М. И. Махаев, 1718-1770. Л., 1978
Малиновский К. В. Петербург в изображении М.И. Махаева. СПб., 2003 Russian Academy of Sciences