He studied at the Academy of fine arts (1862-82). Received medals in 1876 - 2 silver; in 1877 - 2 silver; in 1878 - 2 silver. In 1882 the title of class artist of 3 degrees.
From 1887 was in the service in
The Directorate of Imperial theatres. Worked mainly in the field of theatrical costume.
Of most interest are the costumes Ponomarev for productions of "Ruslan and Lyudmila" (1886), "Mlada" by Rimsky-Korsakov (1892), "Aida" (1893);
"Fidelio" by Beethoven (1905), "the snow maiden" (1905) - at the Mariinsky theatre.