The Feodor Chaliapin Estate Museum houses a self-caricature drawn by the singer in Paris in the 1930s.

A naturally talented draftsman, Chaliapin further developed his talent by spending a lot of time with his numerous painter friends. As he himself put it, Chaliapin learned the accuracy of drawing from Serov and the colorfulness from Korovin. Aiming to grasp the essence of each character he was playing and stay true to it, Chaliapin made numerous sketches that helped him immerse himself in studying a role. He created sketches for makeup, self-portraits and caricatures.

Chaliapin always had a great sense of humor. He had a quick wit, was good at telling funny stories and amusing anecdotes, and enjoyed acting out comedy scenes. The actor was not afraid to laugh at himself, often telling a funny story or an epigram. In 1901, before his performance at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan, Chaliapin came up with a sarcastic epigram about himself,

Chaliapin drew self-caricatures in a quick manner, with a sly grin on his face. All his drawings were full of humor, and some — even of caustic sarcasm. For example, in 1916, having a laugh at his ardent admirers, Chaliapin drew an amusing self-caricature, which is sometimes referred to as “I Am a Genius!” He depicted a quiff brushed upward from his forehead, a self-satisfied look on his face with squinting eyes, and an upturned nose. Everything in the picture stretches upwards from vanity and pride: the hair, the nose, the chin, and the neck in the stand-up collar.

Feodor Chaliapin had a favorite style of self-caricature. It consisted of two or three lines outlining the oval face, shirt and collar, a curl depicting Chaliapin’s signature quiff, two strokes marking the eyes, two thick dots for the nostrils, and two more strokes for the nose. This precise and true-to-life self-portrait made of lines and dots was bound to cause a smile. Chaliapin often presented such caricatures to his friends.