Polish painter. He studied drawing in Kharkiv with Dmitry Bezperchei (1825–1913), a pupil of Karl Bryullov. In 1864 he completed his studies in Natural Sciences at the University of Kharkiv and from then until 1870 studied painting at the Academy of Fine Arts in St Petersburg. While he was to adhere for the rest of his life to the academic classicism taught there, Siemiradzki also worked in a lighter vein: while still a student he sent genre paintings to Warsaw for exhibition at the Association of Fine Arts and during this period he also received lucrative commissions from patrons in St Petersburg for portraits, religious scenes and copies after Old Masters.
