Martynov, Andrey Yefimovich

(1768 - 1826)

Andrey Yefimovich Martynov (Андрей Ефимович Мартынов; 1768-1826) was a Russian painter and engraver.

Born in St. Petersburg to the family of a sergeant in the Preobrazhensky Guards regiment, Martynov graduated from the St Petersburg Academy of Art in 1788. After training under Semion Shchedrin he studied in Italy until 1794. Working on commissions from the Imperial court, he participated in the decorating of several royal palaces and became a councellor of the Academy in 1802.

He travelled throughout southern Russia from 1804, primarily creating images of rural towns and landscapes. He moved gradually away from painting into the newer media of etching and lithography. He was appointed the official artist of the Russian embassy to China in 1805, his series of lithographs of the lands and peoples of Mongolia (entitled "Views of Russia and Mongolia" and "Peoples Types of Russia and Mongolia") being greatly admired. A later set of lithographs, made while touring the Baltic regions ("Views of the Baltic Countries"), was similarly lauded in 1810.

Martynov died in Italy in 1826.