Mukhina was born 1889 in Riga, Russian Empire into a wealthy merchant family, and lived at 23/25 Turgeneva Street, where a memorial plaque has now been placed. Mukhina's ancestors lived in Riga after the Patriotic War of 1812. The family was well-to-do: in 1937 Mukhina inherited 4 million lats from her grandfather. She spent her childhood and youth (1892-1904) in Feodosia where her father took her considering his daughter's health (Vera was two years old when her mother died of tuberculosis). In Feodosia the future artist received her first drawing and painting lessons. She lived there until 1904 when her father died. Mukhina and her older sister Maria were sheltered by uncles and aunts who lived in Kursk, where Mukhina went to high school which she graduated from with honors.