A portraitist is considered truly skillful if the viewers can instantly recognize the person depicted in the work before their eyes.

Portraits by Alexander Mikhailovich Gerasimov are not just emotionless photographs but lively images of real people with their own inner world that preserved accurate psychological characteristics and individual features. Portraits of women occupy a special place in the artist’s oeuvre. Alexander Gerasimov developed his own method of painting a portrait, as well as his own techniques and what he described as an “approach to the life model.” In each portrait, the artist strove to find the most characteristic posture for his model and notice that special something in the sitter’s disposition, facial features and figure.

The expressiveness of the image is also achieved by the rational use of artistic means. Although the palette here is not as varied and rich as the one Impressionists gravitate toward, all the colors used are refined and noble. The picture was painted in a broad manner, the color scheme is subdued with the prevalence of golden and brown hues. The woman in this portrait radiates serenity and dignified sublimity. The necessary flamboyant effect is achieved through the blazing specks of color on the model’s red nails.

With this portrait, Alexander Gerasimov demonstrates not only the depth, greatness and versatility of his talent but also the richness and generosity of the inner world. The portrait is distinguished by the expressiveness, vividness of psychological characteristics, and brilliant execution, with the sweeping manner of painting reminiscent of that in the works of Frans Hals.

Alexander Mikhailovich Gerasimov was well versed in the legacy of European art of the past centuries. He had the opportunity to travel to many countries and study the masterpieces housed in the world’s largest museums. The pronounced gestures and facial expressions in this portrait echoed those in some of the classical works that would be created later on.

Alexander Gerasimov’s portraits of women often participated in various art exhibitions and were a good representation of Russian fine arts of the 1910s–1950s, demonstrating the high level of Russian painting of the pre-revolutionary and Soviet periods. Alexander Gerasimov’s rich and diverse legacy has become another jewel in the crown of Russian art.