VILLIE Mikhail Yakovlevich
Born: 1838
Died: 1910
Until 1862, M. Ya. Villie was an officer in the Preobrazhensky Guards Regiment, one of the oldest and most famous units in the Russian army. His artistic formation began with private lessons from L. O. Premazzi, them, he attended classes at the Academy of Fine Arts in St Petersburg. In 1863, in recognition of the excellent quality of some of his early paintings (The Ruins of the Locks at Vezenburg, The Church of St Nicholas in Revel), he was awarded the rank of Artist. He subsequently went to Brussels and Munich to perfect his artistic technique, and, by 1868, he received the rank of Academician for his work in watercolour landscapes.
Although he lived abroad for most of the period from 1865 until 1885, creating many works in both oils and watercolours, he kept very close connections with the Russian art scene by participating actively in the exhibitions of the Academy and Society of Russian Watercolour Artists. On his return to Russia, he travelled extensively throughout the country, seeking out the old pre-Petrine districts, creating during the 1880s and 1890s numerous paintings of Old Russian architectural treasures (A General View of Yaroslavl, The Church of the Nativity of Christ, and The Moscow Gate in Yaroslavl).
His numerous professional and public activities led to his election as a full member of the Academy of Fine Arts in 1903. In addition, he was a member of the Belgian Royal Watercolour Society. His paintings were displayed in many foreign venues, including international exhibitions. After his death, posthumous presentations of his artworks took place in St Petersburg in 1912 and 1913. Today, the paintings of Mikhail Yakovlevich Villie occupy honourable places in many museums of fine art in Russia.
Мы – русские. Какой восторг! 1000 русских художников
http://lj.rossia.org/users/john_petrov/1090374.html#cutid1
Editor’s Note:
As most of the five works available to me by this artist are religious, I decided to show them all on one day, a Sunday. Appropriate, no? Bill, would you agree with me that this is “good work”, competently executed and well done?
By the way, “Villie” in Russian has three syllables, it’s pronounced “Vee-lee-eh”.
Art and Faith 
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