Портрет И.Е. Репина

1900

Meets Yulia Proshinskaya

Looking for subjects for his competition picture “At the Market”, Kustodiev went to Kostroma Province (in summer or autumn, accounts differ) and in the village of Kalganovo met Yulia Proshinskaya, then 19 or 20, who returned his feelings.

c. 1901

Assists Repin on “The State Council”

“I have great hopes for Kustodiev,” Repin wrote, and when commissioned to paint a huge canvas for the centenary of the State Council, he invited his pupil to assist him: together they made portrait studies, and Kustodiev then executed the right-hand side of the final work (other accounts say about a third of the portraits).

1903

Grand gold medal in Munich

Even before finishing his studies, Kustodiev showed at international exhibitions in St Petersburg and Munich, winning the grand gold medal of the International Association — the Grand Prize of the Association of Viennese Artists at the International Art Exhibition in Munich.

8 January 1903

Marries Yulia Proshinskaya

Kustodiev and Yulia Proshinskaya were married in a small church on the Catherine Canal in St Petersburg; she took her husband's name, and he later painted several portraits of her.

30 October 1903

Graduates with a gold medal for “At the Market”

Kustodiev completed the course with a gold medal: for his competition picture “At the Market” (now lost) he received the title of artist and the right to a year's travel abroad and around Russia on an Academy grant.

1903

Academy travel grant: Paris

Kustodiev arrived in Paris with his wife and son and joined René Ménard's studio; during the trip he visited Germany, Italy and Spain, studying and copying the old masters.