Olonets Governorate
Most of her family members were involved in artistic or scientific pursuits. Her father, Dmitriy Vasilevich Polenov, was a historian and diplomat who served as a Privy Councilor. She was raised on the family estates in Olonets Governorate and Tambov Governorate. Her mother, Maria, a writer of children's stories and an amateur artist, provided her first drawing lessons. Beginning in 1859, she and her siblings all received lessons from Pavel Chistyakov.