Even during his college years, Petrov-Vodkin managed to enter into conflict with the Russian Orthodox Church, which discarded his work on a chapel in Samara and ultimately destroyed it as unacceptable.
Fakülte yıllarında Petrov Vodkin, Rus Ortodoks Kilisesi ile çatışmaya girdi ve Samara'da ki bir şapelde çalışması kabul edilemez bulundu.