Avtor issleduet problemu stanovleniya khudozhestvennykh uchebnykh zavedeniy Rossii perioda vtoroy treti XIX - nachala XX vekov (do 1917 goda) na bogatom arkhivnom materiale, ostanavlivayas' na etapakh razvitiya i prichinakh, sposobstvovavshikh formirovaniyu Risoval'noy shkoly dlya vol'noprikhodyashchikh pri Peterburgskom obshchestve pooshchreniya khudozhnikov (Imperatorskom obshchestve pooshchreniya khudozhestv) i Moskovskogo uchilishcha zhivopisi, vayaniya i zodchestva pri Moskovskom khudozhestvennom obshchestve. Analiz istochnikov pozvolil vyyavit' obshchie cherty i otlichiya, prisushchie dannym uchrezhdeniyam khudozhestvennogo obrazovaniya, osobennosti uchebnykh programm i organizatsii uchebnogo protsessa. Vydelyayutsya periody razvitiya otechestvennogo srednego spetsial'nogo khudozhestvennogo obrazovaniya.