The Itinerants (Peredvizhniki)
In order to understand the most important era of Russian art, one must appreciate the fact that, until the second half of the 19th Century, artists in Russia were trained to paint in the classical style (Academy Style) and that human events were never portrayed in realistic terms. In order to help stamp out the new winds of reform that were sweeping Europe with the onset of Napoleon, and after the Napoleonic invasion of 1812 and forward, the monarchy began to closely control the nature and subject matter of the art produced by the Academy. By the 1850s, Tszar Nicholas l ordered control, not only the output, but the curriculum of the Academy to ensure that the monarchy was glorified to the highest extent possible.

By the end of the first half of the 19th Century, Russian intellectuals supported the need for reform in Russia in painting, music and literature.

The Itinerant movement established the first Free Society of Artists in Russia. The founding of the Itinerant's movement was a measure calculated to express the need for rejection of the social order in Tsarist Russia.

The objectives of the Itinerants contained three main statements: 1. The enlightenment of the people by affording them the opportunity to learn about the new Russian Art 2. The aesthetic objective of forming a new artistic sense and taste 3. The economic objective of attracting new buyers in order to have a market for the new art.