Valentin Serov painted the portrait of Praskovia Antipova, the wife of mining engineer Alexey Antipov, in 1890. Antipova commissioned the portrait from the artist in the city of Kostroma where he stayed while working on Christ at Gethsemane Lake together with Konstantin Korovin.
The artist portrayed Praskovia Antipova as a calm, even-tempered woman. Her highlighted face looks especially expressive as it contrasts with the black dress. Serov was never hesitant to use a lot of dark colors: he made them picturesque through the employment of light. He also added variety to dark shades through different treatment of factures: the fabric of the dress, the background, the lacquered furniture.
Art expert Olga Atroshchenko described Serov’s manner as the ability to paint in black and produce an artistic impression. Adding emphasis to the subject’s face, apart from color, is the artist’s special brushwork.
The artist portrayed Praskovia Antipova as a calm, even-tempered woman. Her highlighted face looks especially expressive as it contrasts with the black dress. Serov was never hesitant to use a lot of dark colors: he made them picturesque through the employment of light. He also added variety to dark shades through different treatment of factures: the fabric of the dress, the background, the lacquered furniture.
Art expert Olga Atroshchenko described Serov’s manner as the ability to paint in black and produce an artistic impression. Adding emphasis to the subject’s face, apart from color, is the artist’s special brushwork.
