Mikhail Nesterov became famous at the beginning of the 20th century as an artist that did compositions that were religious and philosophical. In the 1920s, artist reverts to a theme that began to show itself before the 1917 Revolution: depicting the innermost stirrings of the human soul, the subtle, barely perceptible state of a person, detached from everyday worries, in moments of deep thoughtfulness or lucid sadness. For ‘lyrical portraits’, the artist still chooses female models, trying to find eternal moral foundations in the female soul: kindness, the ability to have compassion, and a particular spirituality.

Mikhail Nesterov and Elena Razumova shared a strong, profound friendship. This portrait, painted in 1936 and now in the collections of the Radischev Museum, attests to this friendship and deep respect. Elena Razumova was born in Saratov, and graduated with a medical degree in Moscow. People valued her, both as a terrific specialist and an art aficionado, and just as a kind-hearted person that people could always come to for advice or help. The portrait was created at a time when Elena Pavlovna was experiencing severe family woes: her husband had been arrested.

It seems that all the attention of the model is directed to her interlocutor, but her eyes are full of sadness, and the concentration on her own thoughts and anxiety is present in them. Nesterov captured Razumova’s uniquely individual features, precious to those who knew her, and at the same time he highlighted that in his model’s semblance which makes her look like many unnamed ‘Nesterov’ heroines - who remain beautiful even when they are grieving. Sadness and suffering only highlight their inherent nobility and spiritual strength. The wise dignity with which Razumova is going through difficult times serves as confirmation of these qualities. Nesterov himself characterized this portrait as more of a sketch, but completing this small, modest piece of work required 20 sessions.

The artist invariably demanded much of himself, no matter what the work was, and every time he searched for a special approach toward the personality of the person that he portrayed, new methods of figurative interpretation, and set and fulfilled various objectives for the composition, and always strove to fully depict psychological characteristics. For the Portrait of E.P. Razumova, the artist also discovered an original, simple, and warm set of tones.