Alexander Antonovich Rizzoni was a painter, specializing in genre paintings and portraits. In 1852, he entered the Imperial Academy of Arts and studied under Bogdan Pavlovich Willewalde. In 1862, he received a large gold medal for the painting “Auction in a Livonia Village” along with a stipend that allowed him to go abroad.
The artist spent most of his life in Italy, where he enthusiastically studied works by Italian old masters. However, he regularly visited Russia, bringing his history paintings to participate in the Academy exhibitions.
Alexander Rizzoni’s artistic legacy mainly consists of history and genre paintings and numerous portraits. From the 1860s, Rizzoni began to masterfully paint small, almost miniature subtle portraits, mostly of women. Thanks to them, the artist became renowned as a great portraitist.
One such work is the painting named “Portrait of a Woman” from the collection of the Sakhalin Art Museum. A refined young woman, turning her head, is portrayed against a neutral background. A special matte surface of the face and neck is achieved by the use of soft contrasts of light and shadow. The sitter’s beauty is emphasized by the meticulously painted texture of lace on the dress and jewelry.
The vivid and technical artistry of the portrait and the painter’s elevated attitude toward the sitter convey a certain poetic mood.
The image in the portrait is strongly characteristic of the period of the late 19th — early 20th centuries with its own ideas about the feminine beauty ideal and personal charm. Rizzoni skillfully represented the tastes of his social and cultural environment and was able to reflect this perfect feminine image in his works.
Alexander Rizzoni was friends with Pavel Tretyakov and helped him to form the collection of the future art gallery at the initial stage. Rizzoni introduced the patron to artists living abroad and helped to select works from various exhibitions.
Rizzoni’s works are inextricably linked with Russian academic art. This contributed to it becoming renowned abroad, in particular through his commissioned portraits.
