The Orphan of Moscow The story of Andrey Ivanov begins in the quiet, often harsh reality of a Moscow orphanage. Abandoned by his parents, the boy found his first true sanctuary within the walls of the Imperial Academy of Arts in 1782. It was there that a raw talent began to take shape, nurtured by the guidance of Grigory Ugryumov and Gabriel François Doyen. By the time he graduated in 1797, he had already begun to navigate the complex social and artistic hierarchies of the Russian Empire. His early years were spent in the disciplined pursuit of the old masters, copying their works and paintin…