The Encyclopedia introduces readers to artists who have inscribed the brightest pages in the history of Russian and world painting, representatives of various styles and trends, adherents of strict academic canons and innovators who destroyed these canons. A significant place in the encyclopedia is occupied by illustrative material, which gives a visual representation of the artist's pictorial manner and is a wide genre range. As illustrations, both well-known and rarely published works from museums in Moscow, St. Petersburg and many other cities of Russia and the CIS countries are proposed.