The still-life “Peonies” displayed in the Mauve Room of the Alexander Palace was painted by Olga Alexandrovna Kulikovskaya, née Romanova, Grand Duchess and the youngest daughter of Emperor Alexander III.
Olga Alexandrovna grew up in the Gatchina Palace in the suburbs of St. Petersburg. The Grand Duchess received a home education, was fond of music, playing the violin, photography, and sports. She studied painting and drawing guided by the famous artists of her time: Kirill Lemokh, Vladimir Makovsky, Konstantin Kryzhitsky, Stanislav Zhukovsky, and Sergey Vinogradov.
In 1901, Olga Alexandrovna married Duke Peter Oldenburgsky, but she divorced him in 1915. From 1916, she was married to Lieutenant Colonel Nikolai Kulikovsky of the Life Guards Cuirassier Regiment. During the First World War, she served as a nurse in the Kiev hospital. From 1917 to 1919, she was in Crimea, from where she emigrated on board the “Marlborough” ship through Novorossiysk to Constantinople, and then to Belgrade. In 1920, she arrived in Denmark. Later, after the Second World War, in 1948, she had to move to Canada. She had two sons.
Olga Alexandrovna was fond of drawing from childhood and painted about 2,000 pictures during her life. The proceeds from the sale of these pictures allowed her to support her family and do charity work after the revolution. She always worked a lot and enjoyed creating: she worked in oil and watercolor, painted pictures and icons, made drawings for postcards, and painted porcelain. A large part of her artistic heritage are still lifes with delicate flowers: the princess loved to decorate her chambers with bouquets. Olga Alexandrovna is also known for her portraits of people close to her as well as her pets, images of interiors and landscapes dear to her heart.
The still life on display features three blooming white peonies with green leaves on thin stems: the middle flower has a heart of yellow stamens. The transparent watercolor is showing the original pencil drawing. This is one of the Grand Duchess’ last paintings, made shortly before her death.
During her lifetime, Olga Alexandrovna had only two personal exhibitions: in Copenhagen (1934) and London (1936). In Russia, her works were first shown on the occasion of her 120th birthday in October 2002, in Moscow. Her still life “Peonies” was a gift to the Tsarskoe Selo Museum and Heritage site from Regina Stefan, director of the small cultural center of Neue Köln in Berlin, in 2008.
Olga Alexandrovna grew up in the Gatchina Palace in the suburbs of St. Petersburg. The Grand Duchess received a home education, was fond of music, playing the violin, photography, and sports. She studied painting and drawing guided by the famous artists of her time: Kirill Lemokh, Vladimir Makovsky, Konstantin Kryzhitsky, Stanislav Zhukovsky, and Sergey Vinogradov.
In 1901, Olga Alexandrovna married Duke Peter Oldenburgsky, but she divorced him in 1915. From 1916, she was married to Lieutenant Colonel Nikolai Kulikovsky of the Life Guards Cuirassier Regiment. During the First World War, she served as a nurse in the Kiev hospital. From 1917 to 1919, she was in Crimea, from where she emigrated on board the “Marlborough” ship through Novorossiysk to Constantinople, and then to Belgrade. In 1920, she arrived in Denmark. Later, after the Second World War, in 1948, she had to move to Canada. She had two sons.
Olga Alexandrovna was fond of drawing from childhood and painted about 2,000 pictures during her life. The proceeds from the sale of these pictures allowed her to support her family and do charity work after the revolution. She always worked a lot and enjoyed creating: she worked in oil and watercolor, painted pictures and icons, made drawings for postcards, and painted porcelain. A large part of her artistic heritage are still lifes with delicate flowers: the princess loved to decorate her chambers with bouquets. Olga Alexandrovna is also known for her portraits of people close to her as well as her pets, images of interiors and landscapes dear to her heart.
The still life on display features three blooming white peonies with green leaves on thin stems: the middle flower has a heart of yellow stamens. The transparent watercolor is showing the original pencil drawing. This is one of the Grand Duchess’ last paintings, made shortly before her death.
During her lifetime, Olga Alexandrovna had only two personal exhibitions: in Copenhagen (1934) and London (1936). In Russia, her works were first shown on the occasion of her 120th birthday in October 2002, in Moscow. Her still life “Peonies” was a gift to the Tsarskoe Selo Museum and Heritage site from Regina Stefan, director of the small cultural center of Neue Köln in Berlin, in 2008.
