Borovikovskiy, Vladimir Lukich 1757–1825 A portrait painter who also painted icons and miniatures. Vladimir Lukich Borovikovsky was born into the family of the secular and icon painter L.Borovikovsky (Borovik) who came from the higher ranks of the Cossacks and received the title. His father was the artist’s first teacher. In 1786-87 he painted two pictures for the palace in which Catherine II stopped over, on her trip to southern Russia. The Empress was interested in those paintings and the artist was permitted to move to Petersburg. At the turn of the 18th-19th centuries he became more and more influenced by classicism.In 1802 Borovikovsky joined a masonic lodge called "The Dying Sphinx" and in 1819-1824 he was a member of the mystic sect "The Brotherhood Union" headed by E.F.Tatarinova. Borovikovsky held a private art school in Petersburg. The best-known of his pupils was A.G.Venetsianov