for some time, shishkin lived and worked in switzerland and germany on scholarship from the st. petersburg imperial academy of arts. on his return to saint petersburg, he became a member of the circle of the itinerants and of the society of russian watercolorists. he also took part in exhibitions at the academy of arts, the all-russian exhibition in moscow (1882), the nizhniy novgorod (1896), and the world fairs (paris, 1867 and 1878, and vienna, 1873). shishkin's painting method was based on analytical studies of nature. he became famous for his forest landscapes and was also an outstanding draftsman and a printmaker.