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Igor Karpinsky was a realist painter and portraitist born in the town of Vyborg, Russia. His art was inspired by nature and its timeless beauty, which he wanted to preserve in his paintings.

Early life
Igor Karpinsky was born in 1901 to a Russian noble family but he also inherited French blood through his grandmother who had emigrated to Saint Petersburg. Karpinsky studied in the art school of Vyborg, taught by Rurik Lindqvist, who had had a strong influence on the art life of Vyborg. As a child, Karpinsky had started to gravitate towards the career of an artist after getting positive feedback on his drawing skills. After his studies, Karpinsky worked as an arts teacher at the Russian Lyceum of Vyborg. However, he was also very interested in fulfilling himself through his own artwork. Consequently, starting from the 1930s Karpinsky also worked as a stager for the theaters and operas of Vyborg.

Career
Karpinsky started working for the Finnish movie company Suomi-Filmi in 1938, which led to him moving to Helsinki permanently. In 1939, his family moved there too and they lived there for 40 years. Igor Karpinsky became a very notable part of the Finnish movie industry through working in Suomi-Filmi. He has staged several famous movies, of which the most known ones are Vihreä Kulta and Rikas tyttö from 1939 and Rosvo-Roope from 1949. Karpinsky, however, wasn't satisfied with only staging and thus he painted numerous artworks in addition to doing his staging job. Karpinsky started his actual career as a visual artist in the 1930s. He participated in the annual arts exhibition of the Vyborg's artist association and held his first private exhibition in the Art Museum of Vyborg in 1934. He continued to hold private exhibitions until the 1970s. Karpinsky was also an active member of the Russian Artists Organization of Finland, participating in various exhibitions and also acting as the chairman of the organization after the wars. Karpinsky also became one of the most notable experts of Russian art in Finland. Karpinsky identified himself as a representative of the realism art style and considered Ilya Repin to be his role model. In fact, in his youth Karpinsky received personal guidance from Repin, which inspired him towards the realistic art style.

Personal style in paintings
Karpinsky's paintings are known for the mixing of contrasts. His paintings capture both the small attention to detail as well as the grander scale of scenery. His Études, in particular, reflect this style very well. In addition, Karpinsky was also renowned for his impeccable portraits.

Connection to Finland
In the 1860s, Igor Karpinsky's grandfather M.P. Karpinsky was in charge of the production of the railway tracks that were used in the construction of the railway network of the Grand Duchy of Finland. While performing his duties in the Grand Duchy of Finland, his son M.M. Karpinsky (Igor Karpinsky’s father) was born in the town of Joroinen, where the main laboratory of the railway track production was located. M.M. Karpinsky graduated as a doctor and moved to Helsinki to perform as a military doctor. Later on in his life he was commanded to serve in Vyborg as the head of the military hospital. Igor Karpinsky was later born in this town in 1901. Due to the circumstances of civil war in both Finland and Russia, M.M. Karpinsky’s family was forced to stay in Vyborg.