For a time, she worked as a proofreader to help support her family.[1] In 1880, she began auditing classes at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, under the direction of Vladimir Makovsky. She also took private lessons from Nikolai Avenirovich Martynov [ru], set up a studio on a small street and began exhibiting in 1890. Three years later, she had a major showing at an art gallery owned by the publisher, Kozma Soldatyonkov.