From 1875 to 1886 Korovin studied with the painters Vasily Dmitrievich Polenov and Vasily Grigorevich Perov at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture and also spent a year at the St Petersburg Academy of Arts. At the turn of the century he spent some time in Paris, where he was awarded the Légion d’Honneur for his artistic achievement. After returning to Russia he became a professor and academician. He had a major influence on the development of Russian stage design and for many years designed sets for Sergey Diaghilev as well as working for a number of theatres in Moscow and St Petersburg. In 1923 he returned to Paris to present a large exhibition of his works, after which he settled in France for good. Painting became an artistic sideline for him and he received far more commissions as a stage designer. His frequent visits to France influenced Korovin to such a degree that he become a proponent of Russian Impressionism. He was an important member of the Union of Russian Visual Artists, which held an exhibition in 1934 at the House of Art in Ostrava.