At first, he created genre scenes but, later, devoted himself almost exclusively to portraits. In 1875, he took up etching, after seeing works by Ivan Shishkin, and produced over 100 works, including portraits of Fyodor Dostoevsky and Anton Rubinstein. He participated in numerous exhibitions; notably the Exposition Universelle (1878) and the World's Columbian Exposition. On a few occasions, he exhibited with the Peredvizhniki.