The Moscow artists who began to move towards Impressionism in the 1880s admired the works of the young Serov, particularly his pastoral landscapes that so clearly revealed the lyricism of modest events in daily life. Benefiting from the instruction of his teachers, Repin and Tchistiakov, he became the finest Russian portrait artist of his generation. His skill is evident in some of his most beautiful paintings, Girl with Peaches and Ulysses and Nausicaa. Serov’s creative work and experience paved the way for Russian painting to play a more important role in pictorial art in the 20th century.