1857

May 19: receives his first award from the Academy, a small silver medal, for the picture View in the Vicinity of St. Petersburg. Takes part in the Academy of Arts exhibition for the first time. Summer: works from nature in the village of Dubki near St. Petersburg together with his friends and academy classmates Pavel Joggin, Ivan Volkovsky and Alexander Guinet. December 23: is awarded his second small silver medal for four drawings (the best of the group being Dubki Near Sestroretsk). Evinces a great interest in Saltykov-Shchedrin's satirical story Provincial Sketches.

Autograph of Shishkin's letter to his parents with a sketch of his picture View of Valaam Island (October 1858)