Nicolai Ivanovich Fechin (1881- 1955) was a Russian- American painter known for his portraits and works featuring Native Americans.
After graduating with the highest marks from the Imperial Academy of Arts and travelling in Europe under a Prix de Rome, he returned to his native Kazan, where he taught and painted. He exhibited his first work in the United States in 1910 in an international exhibition in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
After immigrating with his family to New York in 1923 and working there for a few years, Fechin developed tuberculosis and moved West for a drier climate. He and his family settled in Taos, New Mexico, where he became fascinated by Native Americans and the landscape. After leaving Taos in 1933, Fechin eventually settled in southern California.
