Igor Emmanuilovich Grabar received a law degree in St. Petersburg, but unlike his brother, who became a famous lawyer, he decided to devote his life to painting. During his studies he went to drawing lessons at the Moscow Society of Art Lovers, then he learned from Russian artist and teacher Pavel Petrovich Chistyakov (1832-1919), continued his education at the Imperial Academy of Arts under the direction of Ilya Efimovich Repin.

After graduation Igor Grabar went to Europe, where he perfected his skills in a private studio school. After returning from the trip, he joined associations World of Art and Union of Russian Artists and presented his paintings at Russian and foreign exhibitions.

In 1913 Igor Grabar headed Russia’s largest gallery - the Tretyakov Gallery, while at the time continuing to take an active part in the artistic life of Moscow and St. Petersburg. In 1918 he initiated establishment of the Central Workshops for the Restoration of Works of Art, which he subsequently directed for 12 years.

So he began to paint a portrait of his wife standing in the garden in the shade of a branchy oak at the served table. The painting was almost finished, but that night an earthquake started, and completion of the work had to be postponed. When everything calmed down, the artist continued to paint the portrait, but his wife still could not recover from the experienced shock and the work on the picture slowed down: ‘one had to pose with a smile, and what smile are we talking about, when the tremors continued all the time.’ Nevertheless, the painting was completed, and now the descendants can enjoy the creation of the talented Russian painter Igor Emmanuilovich Grabar, which is kept in the Simferopol Museum of Fine Arts.