Alexander Vladimirovich Makovsky was an artist, academician and professor of the Imperial Academy of Arts. He was born in 1869 in Moscow in the family of the famous painter and Wanderer, Vladimir Egorovich Makovsky. From 1884 to 1889, he studied at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture under Illarion Pryanishnikov, Vasily Polenov and his father Vladimir Makovsky. In 1894, he entered the Higher Art School at the Imperial Academy of Arts, to study in the workshop of Ilya Repin.
Alexander Makovsky was known as a portraitist, genre and landscape painter. He created the paintings “Bothered”, “Portrait of Alexandra Feodorovna”, “Market Day in Plyos”, “By the River”, “Hunting”, and “Landscape with a Church”. In search of themes for his works, Alexander Makovsky traveled a lot across Russia.
His work is characterized by subtle poetry and acute observation, as well as a preference for soft tones and semitones. Makovsky’s canvases often combine elements of landscape and genre painting in the spirit of the Moscow school of the late 19th — early 20th century.
The “Portrait of Tsarevna Sophia” is acutely realistic, only the traditional Russian costume speaks to the sitter’s identity and historical significance. The artist portrayed a mature black-eyed beautiful woman. Looking at the portrait, the viewer involuntarily recalls the famous image created by the great Repin. In Alexander Makovsky’s interpretation, Sophia is only about to come up with her plans on stirring up an uprising among the Streltsy. The artist reliably conveys the inner dynamism of emotions, which she carefully hides in her restless anxious gaze and a slight wrinkle between her eyebrows. The light also helps to convey the mood: one side of her face is in the shade, which, in a way, hints at the duality of the character, as the artist saw it. This is also facilitated by the background painted with short sharp brush strokes, where the red ribbon of the bow stands out as an accentuated detail.
In his work, Alexander Makovsky was as a brilliant follower of his father Vladimir Makovsky and the traditions of the Wanderers. However, unlike his father, he did not emphasize the accusatory tone in his plots, but sought to display everyday life in all its manifestations.
Alexander Makovsky was known as a portraitist, genre and landscape painter. He created the paintings “Bothered”, “Portrait of Alexandra Feodorovna”, “Market Day in Plyos”, “By the River”, “Hunting”, and “Landscape with a Church”. In search of themes for his works, Alexander Makovsky traveled a lot across Russia.
His work is characterized by subtle poetry and acute observation, as well as a preference for soft tones and semitones. Makovsky’s canvases often combine elements of landscape and genre painting in the spirit of the Moscow school of the late 19th — early 20th century.
The “Portrait of Tsarevna Sophia” is acutely realistic, only the traditional Russian costume speaks to the sitter’s identity and historical significance. The artist portrayed a mature black-eyed beautiful woman. Looking at the portrait, the viewer involuntarily recalls the famous image created by the great Repin. In Alexander Makovsky’s interpretation, Sophia is only about to come up with her plans on stirring up an uprising among the Streltsy. The artist reliably conveys the inner dynamism of emotions, which she carefully hides in her restless anxious gaze and a slight wrinkle between her eyebrows. The light also helps to convey the mood: one side of her face is in the shade, which, in a way, hints at the duality of the character, as the artist saw it. This is also facilitated by the background painted with short sharp brush strokes, where the red ribbon of the bow stands out as an accentuated detail.
In his work, Alexander Makovsky was as a brilliant follower of his father Vladimir Makovsky and the traditions of the Wanderers. However, unlike his father, he did not emphasize the accusatory tone in his plots, but sought to display everyday life in all its manifestations.
