Москва конца XVII столетия. На рассвете у Воскресенских ворот

1885–1914

Work as a Theatre Designer

He began working as a theatre designer in 1885 at Savva Mamontov's Private Russian Opera; in the early 1900s he created sets for operas including Rimsky-Korsakov's "Sadko" and "The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh" for the Mariinsky Theatre (1908) and the final scene of "A Life for the Tsar" for the Bolshoi Theatre (1914).

autumn 1898

Trip to Europe

In the autumn of 1898 he went to Europe "in the line of duty": he visited France, Italy, Switzerland, and German cities; in Paris he settled near the Latin Quarter and sought to take part in the Salon of 1899. The trip "lightened" his palette — without it, he said, he "would have remained a black painter."

1898

Italy: Vesuvius and Venice

In Italy he visited Rome, Tivoli, Naples, and Pompeii, made a risky ascent to the crater of the active Vesuvius, and painted studies at the volcano's mouth; Venice left a deep impression, reflected in the study "Venice. The Lagoon."

1900

Academician of the Academy of Arts

He became an academician of the Imperial Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg, and from 1903 a full member.

1901

Son born: Vsevolod Vasnetsov

1901–1918

Head of the Landscape Class at the Moscow School of Painting

He headed the landscape class of the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture; his students included the future pictorialist photographer Yuri Yeryomin.