Nikolay Aleksandrovich Tarkhov was born in 1871 in Moscow. His family was engaged in trade and never experienced serious financial difficulties. Tarkhov received his first education at the Moscow State School.

Nikolay was interested in drawing since childhood, so at the age of twenty-three he decided to enter the school of painting, sculpture and architecture. However, the attempt was unsuccessful – he failed to pass the entrance exams. Then he began to study on his own. Traveled along the Volga, Crimea and the Caucasus.

In Crimea, Tarkhov met the already famous artist Konstantin Korovin, from whom he later took lessons. Soon he also became friends with many other Russian artists, among whom was Nikolay Milioti. Together with him, in 1898, he went to Paris for the first time.

Nikolay lived in Munich for some time, and then settled in Paris. Here he continued to study painting. He took part in many Parisian exhibitions and also sent his works to Moscow. In 1909, Tarkhov held his first individual exhibition at the Druet Gallery in Paris.

In 1904, the artist married a French woman. A few years later, he bought a house in Orsay, where he lived with his family for the rest of his life.

Nikolai worked in various genres. Using impressionist techniques, he created urban and rural landscapes, still lifes with flowers, as well as portraits, including group portraits on the theme of family and motherhood.

Alexander Benois, a Russian artist, art historian and art critic, wrote about Tarkhov:

“It is not true that Tarkhov is a weak copy of Parisian impressionism. You can recognize Tarkhov in Parisian salons among thousands of paintings at once.”

However, despite positive reviews, Tarkhov’s popularity was declining in the last period of his career. This was partly due to the fact that one of the most significant dealers of the time, Ambroise Vollard, stopped selling his works, and his relationships with other dealers did not work out.

The artist worked until the last days of his life, exhibiting his works at numerous exhibitions. Nikolai Tarkhov died in 1930 from laryngeal cancer. That same year, the Autumn Salon organized a small memorial exhibition in his memory. Interest in the work of Nikolai Tarkhov was renewed only in the 1980s.

The works of Nikolai Tarkhov are presented in many private and museum collections, including the State Tretyakov Gallery, which acquired the artist’s works from lifetime exhibitions. His works are also in the collections of the State Russian Museum (St. Petersburg) and the Museum of Art “Petit Palais” (Geneva, Switzerland).