Sergey Nikolaevich Andriaka (July 14, 1958 - May 16, 2024) was a distinguished Russian watercolorist, a celebrated artist and educator, and a pivotal figure in national art education. He served as editor-in-chief and a permanent author for the scientific and methodological journal Secreta Artis. Andriaka was the driving force behind the extensive scientific, methodological, and publishing efforts of the art institutions he founded and led: the Federal State Budgetary Educational Institution of Higher Education "Sergey Andriaka Academy of Watercolor and Fine Arts" and the State Budgetary Educational Institution of Additional Education "Sergey Andriaka Specialized School of Watercolor with a Museum and Exhibition Complex".

This article represents the first comprehensive effort to summarize his substantial contributions, trace his professional journey, and provide foundational information about his artistic and pedagogical career. It explores the principles underlying the School of Watercolor and the Academy of Watercolor and Fine Arts, and delves into key aspects of Anrdriaka's unique teaching methodology, particularly his multilayer watercolor technique.

The article features previously unpublished materials, such as drafts of Andriaka's autobiography and personal conversations with him.

The article delves into the formative years of the landscape class at the Moscow School of Painting and Sculpture (MUZHV), whose growth parallels the advancement of the landscape genre in Russia during the latter half of the 1 9th century. It explores the pioneering efforts of Karl Ivanovich Rabus, the inaugural head of the class, and evaluates his instructional techniques in landscape painting. His methods introduced academic traditions of landscape painting to the School, thereby laying the groundwork for its future development. Additionally, the article delineates the challenges encountered by the nascent landscape painting tradition, attributable to a range of internal and external factors.

Drawing from archival records and periodical sources, the author endeavors to reconstruct a detailed portrayal of the class's early years (1844-1857), emphasizing the pivotal role of students in the evolution of artistic life and the formation of the art market in Moscow. The research enhances scholarly knowledge by bringing into focus the identities of the class's students, most of whom are lesser-known artists, alongside their artistic creations, enriching our comprehension of Russian landscape painting during the late 1800s.

Continuing its series of articles on drawing techniques, Secreta Artis presents an abridged and adapted translation of a unique text from a manual on ink drawing methods, accompanied by a commentary. The text and illustrations, which outline and demonstrate three pen techniques: lining, hatching, and dotting (extremely rare and methodologically valuable information), were published in 1897 in the French artist Gustave Fraipont's book "L'art d'appliquer ses connaissances en dessin: fusain, crayon, plume, eau-forte, lithographie, execution des dessins pour la photogravure et la gravure sur bois, l'art de prendre un croquis". Fraipont's comprehensive work explores a wide array of graphic arts, including charcoal, pencil, etching, lithography, woodcut, and more.

However, despite the popularity of G. Fraipont's works in the latter half of the 19th century, including seven manuals on watercolor painting, composition, drafting, and sketching that were translated and published in Moscow and St. Petersburg between 1893 and 1895, his work on ink drawing techniques was not translated into Russian. This material is highly relevant for studying the history of 19th-century graphics, the academic art school of that era, and for mastering drawing techniques.

The author of the article investigates the use of a visual teaching approach for monumental painting, as applied to fifth-year students at the Sergey Andriaka Academy of Watercolor and Fine Arts. The project involved students and their teacher collaboratively creating a painting plafond with a total area of 78 m². The article chronicles the project's workflow, encompassing the creation of sketches, preparation of cardboard, execution of multilayer painting on canvases, and the subsequent installation of the plafond. Emphasis is placed on techniques for creating polychrome images using colorants with a restrained tonal and color palette, as well as on the multilayer oil painting process, which includes a grisaille tempera undercoat and a final glaze.

The article summarizes the initial findings of research aimed at identifying the locations of paintings, graphics, and sculptures that were defended as creative theses for the degree of Candidate of Art History in the period from 1950 to 1955. These dissertations were defended at the Repin Institute of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture and Surikov Moscow State Art Institute. The inquiry has identified works of painting and graphic art present in the State Museum Fund of the Russian Federation, along with the locations of sculptures, including monumental artworks.