アゾフ海に面した町マリウポリ（今のウクライナ）で、ギリシャ系の貧しい靴職人の家に生まれました。幼いころに両親を亡くし、働きながらほとんど独学で絵を学びます。美術アカデミーの入学には2度失敗しましたが、あきらめずに挑戦をつづけました。やがて月の光や夕日を、本当に光っているかのように描く風景画で大人気に。晩年は美術アカデミーで若い画家たちを育てました。
Kuindzhi was born in Mariupol on the Sea of Azov, now in Ukraine, into a poor family of Greek shoemakers. He lost his parents when he was small and taught himself to paint, mostly on his own, while he worked. He failed twice to get into the Academy of Arts, but he kept trying. In time, he became hugely popular for landscapes in which moonlight and sunsets seem to really glow. Later he taught young painters at the Academy.
