Chistyakov was an academic painter and teacher of art. A mediocre artist, he was nevertheless an outstanding teacher. Among his students were Ilya Repin, Viktor Vasnetsov, Valentin Serov, Vasily Polenov, Yelena Polenova, Vasily Surikov, Mikhail Vrubel, Andrei Ryabushkin. [https://russian-style.tumblr.com/post/115323668499/alexander-golovin-portrait-of-mikhail]