The Ostrogozhsk Museum houses a portrait of Sophia Nikolaevna Kramskaya. She is depicted as a middle-aged woman immersed in reading a newspaper. The portrait was painted by the daughter of Ivan and Sophia Kramskoy — Sophia Ivanovna Junker-Kramskaya.
Sophia Nikolaevna had a warm relationship with her daughter Sophia Ivanovna, and after the death of Ivan Kramskoy, the young woman wholeheartedly devoted herself to caring about her mother. In this everyday image of her closest person, Sophia Ivanovna once again demonstrated her great talent as a master of genre painting.
The name of Junker-Kramskaya is known mostly to art experts. Moving in the artistic circles since childhood, Sophia Ivanovna was warmly remembered by the people who knew her well. She graduated from the girl’s high school, studied painting under Alexander Litovchenko for two years, took private lessons in watercolor painting with Alexander Sokolov, received advice from Arkhip Kuindzhi, and attended a private painting school in Paris. She mostly created genre paintings, still lifes, and portraits, and successfully participated in many exhibitions in Russia and abroad. In spite of that, her name is most often mentioned in the context of her famous father. Like all painters, Sophia Junker-Kramskaya often portrayed her closest people — her relatives. This portrait is an example of that.
Ivan Kramskoy met his future wife Sophia Prokhorova in 1859 and married her four years later. She became the artist’s trustful companion and provided him with unconditional support. Sophia often acted as Kramskoy’s secretary which is reflected in his letters, “Announce my idea at our meeting…” Kramskoy was very close with his wife, and throughout their life, they were friends, associates, and soulmates. This is how he described his feelings at the beginning of their life together.
Sophia Nikolaevna had a warm relationship with her daughter Sophia Ivanovna, and after the death of Ivan Kramskoy, the young woman wholeheartedly devoted herself to caring about her mother. In this everyday image of her closest person, Sophia Ivanovna once again demonstrated her great talent as a master of genre painting.
The name of Junker-Kramskaya is known mostly to art experts. Moving in the artistic circles since childhood, Sophia Ivanovna was warmly remembered by the people who knew her well. She graduated from the girl’s high school, studied painting under Alexander Litovchenko for two years, took private lessons in watercolor painting with Alexander Sokolov, received advice from Arkhip Kuindzhi, and attended a private painting school in Paris. She mostly created genre paintings, still lifes, and portraits, and successfully participated in many exhibitions in Russia and abroad. In spite of that, her name is most often mentioned in the context of her famous father. Like all painters, Sophia Junker-Kramskaya often portrayed her closest people — her relatives. This portrait is an example of that.
Ivan Kramskoy met his future wife Sophia Prokhorova in 1859 and married her four years later. She became the artist’s trustful companion and provided him with unconditional support. Sophia often acted as Kramskoy’s secretary which is reflected in his letters, “Announce my idea at our meeting…” Kramskoy was very close with his wife, and throughout their life, they were friends, associates, and soulmates. This is how he described his feelings at the beginning of their life together.
