The Penza Art Gallery contains 14 works by Ivan Kuzmich Makarov, whose life is closely connected with the Penza region. He was born in Saransk, which in the past was part of the Penza province. In 1844, he entered the St. Petersburg Imperial Academy of Arts, after training in which he soon became one of the most popular portrait painters of the capital.
Sister Girls
Creation period
1879
Dimensions
138x102 cm
138×102 cm
138×102 cm
Technique
oil on canvas
Exhibition
10
Open in app#7
Ivan Makarov
Sister Girls
#13
#5
Ivan Kuzmich Makarov (1822–1897). Self-portrait in youth. 1840. Research Museum of the Russian Academy of Arts, St. Petersburg
The most fully artistic talent of Ivan Makarov revealed in the field of portraiture, including children. In front of the viewer are Arapov’s sister girls: 6-year-old Lisa and 4-year-old Natasha are the granddaughters of Natalia Nikolaevna Pushkina-Lanskaya. Two little ladies with their translucent smooth skin and a light, beaming face blush look like porcelain dolls. The ceremonial portrait of their grandfather, Andrei Nikolayevich Arapov (1807–1874), lieutenant of the Life Guards of the Cavalier Guard regiment painted by Dmitry Antonelli, is also stored in the Penza Art Gallery.
#14
The elder sister, whose blue eyes are turned to the viewer - Elizabeth, has lived in the Penza province in the ancestral estate of her father Nikolai Andreevich Arapov since 1874. In 1892, Elizaveta Nikolaevna married a chamberlain, a state adviser, leader of the nobility of the Nizhnelomovsky district, Viktor Dmitrievich Bibikov (1859–1919). It is difficult to imagine what a hard life a hereditary noblewoman from the old Arapovs lived, having gone through all the wars, the revolution and the loss of loved ones in the 20th century. Unlike her sister Natalya, Elizaveta Nikolaevna did not emigrate abroad, but lived to the end in Penza. In 1949, she wrote a book “My Memories of Pushkin and His Descendants”, which was first published after her death only in 1995.
#15
According to one version, Elizabeth Nikolaevna herself transferred the presented portrait to the gallery in 1918. According to another theory, works of art and estates were confiscated from aristocrats and nationalized by the new government, which happened with her painting and estate in Andreevka. Most likely, this is not a contradiction; Elizaveta Nikolaevna could have time to transfer the painting to the museum voluntarily in order to preserve it.
Elizabeth Nikolaevna Bibikova (born Arapova)
#12
Many intelligent people of our city knew Elizabeth Nikolaevna, she was often met in Lermontov Square, at the monument to the poet. She earned her living by private foreign language lessons. The descendants of those who once served in their estates helped her with what they could. She wore a man’s jacket, obviously cast-off; with a simple canvas bag… She still had a degree, dignity, and leisureliness. What is surprising was her kind look, a pacified expression on his face. Although how her life began and how it ended!
N.M. Valukina, the chief curator of the Penza Regional Art Gallery named after K.A. Savitsky (1984–2000)
#16
Penza Regional Picture Gallery named after K.A. Savitsky
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Sister Girls
Creation period
1879
Dimensions
138x102 cm
138×102 cm
138×102 cm
Technique
oil on canvas
Exhibition
10
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