The portrait shows Sergey Nikolayevich Gorshin — a scientist, Doctor of Technology, Honored Scientist and Engineer, professor, collector, and founder of the Khimki Art Gallery. Over the course of more than fifty years, Sergey Gorshin had amassed a collection of paintings by Russian realist artists of the middle of the 19th — the first half of the 20th century. In the late 1980s, he donated 60 paintings from his collection to the State Tretyakov Gallery and over 200 works to the city of Khimki with the purpose of establishing an art gallery there.

Sergey Gorshin wrote,

The portrait depicts Sergey Gorshin as a lean, slim, austere, and elegant man advanced in years. The scientist’s outstanding personality manifests itself in his thoughtful gaze, detached state, and serene posture.

People used to say about Gorshin, “This man, born in the country, became an intellectual of high morals with passion for the cause and never-tiring zest for labor.” Sergey Gorshin came up with more than 40 innovations in forestry and published over 300 scientific works, including books and monographs.

This portrait of Sergey Gorshin was painted by his friend — Vladimir Alexandrovich Igoshev. They both shared the same love of painting and fine arts: Igoshev was also a collector and one of the founders of the art museum in Khanty-Mansiysk.

Vladimir Alexandrovich Igoshev was born in the Bashkir ASSR in 1921. Once he set foot in the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug, he fell in love with this region for the rest of his life. The artist was so impressed by the northern culture that it remained the key subject of his works for many years. He created portraits, landscapes, and everyday scenes dedicated to the Khanty and Mansi peoples. Igoshev is sometimes referred to as the portraitist of the Russian North.

When creating portraits, the artist strove to accurately convey the sitter’s appearance, as well as reflect their personality, worldview, and character.