Having received his first drawing lessons and color the family, a native of Tula Andrei Popov in 1846 was brought to St. Petersburg and given to the Academy of fine arts, where he was a pupil of M. N. Vorobyov and BP Villevalde. Young artist quite successfully mastered the fine thing, getting the silver and gold medals for the image, mostly of scenes from people's lives. For the thesis Popov gets a gold medal and the opportunity through the Academy to go on a trip abroad. By this time he repeatedly became a participant of academic exhibitions, his works "the Return from town", "portrait of the children of G. yazykova", "Demyanova ear" introduced the audience to the growing power of a master of genre painting. During delayed trips abroad (1860-1862), the artist works hard and puts on court of colleagues and spectators canvas, "the Pilgrim", "the artist." Overseas trip A. A. Popov was held in Paris (1863-1865) and Rome (1865-1867).
Upon returning to Russia the artist's name on hearing professionals and Amateurs. His paintings are interested collectors. However, since the 1870-ies the artist's name rarely is mentioned, even among connoisseurs of fine art, and from 1873 painting A. A. Popov finally disappear from exhibitions. By this time beginning to gain momentum, the Association of traveling art exhibitions. Unfortunately, the way of original genre painter A. A. Popov, and this Association is not crossed.
After receiving initial artistic training in Tula, under the guidance of his father, a minor provincial painter, was identified pupils of the Academy of Arts. Here his teachers were V. Vorobyeva first, and then B. Villevalde . The priests had the support of the society for the encouragement of artists. His painting ""Demyanova ear"" (on the plot of the fable ) on the academic exhibition 1857 made a great impression on the audience specificity and expressiveness of the depicted persons and their common Comedy. She gave the artist a small gold medal. At the same time it was exhibited paintings: ""the Return from town"" and a portrait of the children of G. yazykova . In 1860 appeared the best of all works Popova - ""the tea Warehouse at the Nizhny Novgorod fair"" for which the Academy awarded him the title of class artist 1-th degree and a gold medal; after this the priests went on a journey in 1863, bringing before the academic exhibition of 1861 paintings: ""the Pilgrim"" and ""the artist"". The period of his foreign pensionerstva priests held in Paris and in Rome, where he returned to St. Petersburg in 1867 and brought written out ""outing on the Monte, Pinho"". It was his last work, not devoid of merit, but much weaker than his first film. Generally shining hope that Popov was served early in his career, did not materialize due to his pain and depended on her decline of energy, he worked weaker and weaker and finally almost completely gave up painting.
