Valentin Serov was a Russian painter, sketch artist, master in portraiture, and an academician of the Imperial Academy of Arts. In childhood, he studied under Ilya Repin, who noticed that the boy was very talented; this encouraged the boy and later influenced his ways. He quickly mastered basic art skills, and his early works already had a distinctive style.
In 1880-1885, Valentin Serov studied at the Academy of Arts. His teacher, Pavel Chistyakov, was an artist: a master in history, genre, and portrait painting. Serov participated in exhibitions of the Itinerants and the artists of the World of Art movement.
The portrait of Elizabeth Alekseyevna Krasilshchikova is one of the few pastels by Valentin Serov. In his works, the artist demonstrated his ability to identify unique features, poses, and gestures of his models, which he intentionally made prominent. While creating a decorative portrait, the master used pastel as one of the most advantageous techniques offering the possibility to fully convey textures of objects and exquisite colour combinations.
In many ways, the pastel portraits by Valentin Serov were stylistically associated with his drawings. The artist was excited with the search for a new style, and it resulted in the elegant minimalism of his works.
The artist accurately portrayed the details of the woman’s face, ethereal gauze fabric of her dress, sparks of the diamonds, and her heavy black shawl. The portrait of Elizabeth Krasilshchikova was one of the largest commissioned works by Serov. The master was particularly attentive to the pose and the gesture. The entire image of the model reflects pretensions to gentility and the fondness of the early 20th century Moscow merchants for European fashion. In the portrait, Valentin Serov showed the liveliness of Elizabeth Krasilshchikova; he drew attention to her charm, attractive appearance, and femininity.
The artist filled everything - the softness of the pastels and their delicate touch to the suede, application of the feathering technique, play with dust spots, and the quiet colours - with tenderness, revealing the essence of the image of Krasilshchikova.
Valentin Serov lived for only 46 years, but he created hundreds of paintings and portraits. Many of them are acknowledged masterpieces. The artist earned fame as one of the best portrait painters of his epoch.
In 1880-1885, Valentin Serov studied at the Academy of Arts. His teacher, Pavel Chistyakov, was an artist: a master in history, genre, and portrait painting. Serov participated in exhibitions of the Itinerants and the artists of the World of Art movement.
The portrait of Elizabeth Alekseyevna Krasilshchikova is one of the few pastels by Valentin Serov. In his works, the artist demonstrated his ability to identify unique features, poses, and gestures of his models, which he intentionally made prominent. While creating a decorative portrait, the master used pastel as one of the most advantageous techniques offering the possibility to fully convey textures of objects and exquisite colour combinations.
In many ways, the pastel portraits by Valentin Serov were stylistically associated with his drawings. The artist was excited with the search for a new style, and it resulted in the elegant minimalism of his works.
The artist accurately portrayed the details of the woman’s face, ethereal gauze fabric of her dress, sparks of the diamonds, and her heavy black shawl. The portrait of Elizabeth Krasilshchikova was one of the largest commissioned works by Serov. The master was particularly attentive to the pose and the gesture. The entire image of the model reflects pretensions to gentility and the fondness of the early 20th century Moscow merchants for European fashion. In the portrait, Valentin Serov showed the liveliness of Elizabeth Krasilshchikova; he drew attention to her charm, attractive appearance, and femininity.
The artist filled everything - the softness of the pastels and their delicate touch to the suede, application of the feathering technique, play with dust spots, and the quiet colours - with tenderness, revealing the essence of the image of Krasilshchikova.
Valentin Serov lived for only 46 years, but he created hundreds of paintings and portraits. Many of them are acknowledged masterpieces. The artist earned fame as one of the best portrait painters of his epoch.
