Painter, portraitist, author of miniature portraits, decorator. Studied art under his father Ivan Argunov. Serf artist of Count Nikolai Sheremetev. Copied the paintings in the Imperial Hermitage (1797). By order of his owner, painted portraits of artists from the serf theatre, parade portraits of Paul I, portraits of Sheremetev and his wife, the former actress P. Kovalyova-Zhemchugova. Freed from serfdom by the bequeath of Count Nikolai Sheremetev (1816). Appointed to the Imperial Academy of Arts (1816). Academician of the Imperial Academy of Arts (1818).