The family of Alexander Gerasimov consisted of three people — Alexander Mikhailovich himself, his wife Lydia Nikolayevna, and their only daughter Galina Alexandrovna. The artist portrayed Galina many times throughout her childhood and adolescent years. It appears that she was the artist’s most patient and cherished sitter.

It is not clear whether the “Portrait of the Artist’s Daughter Galina Gerasimova” is a finished work. The artist painted the face in detail while depicting the background in a schematic way, resembling the approach of Impressionists. Alexander Gerasimov’s teacher was the outstanding painter Konstantin Korovin — one of the brightest Russian representatives of Impressionism.

Galina was a kind and affectionate girl. She loved music, especially the piano. She often gave concerts in the Gerasimovs’ house in Michurinsk. The piano still has pride of place in the Alexander Gerasimov Estate Museum. Galina was taught drawing and painting by her father’s friends at the Academy of Arts. The way she could arrange all the details in a still life or landscape in one balanced composition was strikingly good. She was especially skilled at depicting flowers. The world of painting and music brought Galina true peace of mind.

At first, Galina drew images she found on postcards, then she started painting from life, especially flowers. She painted landscapes and depicted fruits, berries, vegetables, and mushrooms. In 1942, Gerasimova became a member of the Moscow Union of Artists. During the war, still lifes and landscapes by Galina Gerasimova were exhibited in the showcases of the Exhibition Hall on Kuznetsky Most Street, next to the TASS Windows on the War posters. Her landscapes adorned the interiors of the Hotel Moscow, Hotel National and Hotel Tsentralnaya. Her still lifes and landscapes were also acquired by the Admiralty of Great Britain and the Foros sanatorium of the Central Committee of the Party. The works of Galina Gerasimova largely gravitate toward simple compositions and naïveté, they are filled with admiration for the fleeting beauty of the world and express an immediate impression of reality. The artist had an instinct for color and managed to achieve a balanced combination of numerous saturated shades in her pictures.

In Soviet times, her paintings were printed in magazines and on thousands of greeting cards, and she was written about in national newspapers. Galina Gerasimova’s works are kept in the estate museum and private collections in Russia and abroad.