Ernst Friederich von Liphart

Metcalfe Gallery, Ambassador Hotel, Los Angeles
Acquired directly from the above by the present owner in the late 1960s

St. Louis, World's Fair, Louisiana Purchase Exposition, 1904
Santa Fe, Museum of Fine Arts, Nicholas and Alexandra: At Home with the Last Tsar and His Family, 2004
Newark, Newark Museum, Nicholas and Alexandra: At Home with the Last Tsar and His Family, 2004
Cincinnati, Cincinnati Museum Center, Nicholas and Alexandra: At Home with the Last Tsar and His Family, 2005

The following condition report has been provided by Simon Parkes of Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc. 502 East 74th St. New York, NY 212-734-3920, simonparkes@msn.com , an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. This painting is essentially in beautiful state. The canvas is unlined and still on its original stretcher. The paint layer is stable, most likely a little dirty and could be safely cleaned. There do not appear to be any retouches and although there are a few spots which could be retouched, particularly in the background on the left side, this picture is in very good, if not perfect condition.
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

Ernest Friederich von Liphart was born to the family of famous art connoisseur and collector Baron Karl von Liphart. From 1862 he lived in Europe, first with his father in Florence and later in Paris. He learned to paint by copying the works of old masters in museums, and he studied at the Académie Julian under Lefebre and Boulanger. He first worked as a decorator and a portraitist, and beginning in 1877 he began to display his work at the Salon. One of his paintings was purchased by the French government, and he worked for many Parisian magazines, including La Vie Moderne.

In 1885, Liphart received a commission from Alexander I and in 1886 he traveled to St. Petersburg, where he painted portraits of the Romanov family and decorated the majestic palaces of the Grand Princes, among other things. He later received the title of Academician from the St. Petersburg Academy of Fine Arts, and from 1906 to 1929 he served as curator of Italian and Spanish art at the Hermitage. There he made a few important discoveries, the most famous being the attribution of Leonardo da Vinci's Benois Madonna.

The present portrait of Tsar Nicholas II in field uniform was painted at the Alexander Palace in 1897, where it was hung in the Imperial Chambers. Liphart created an entire gallery of portraits of Tsar Nicholas II, but the portrait of 1897, as noted by many other artists, was the one that best captured the Tsar's private charm. He was known to dislike grand festivities, loud speeches and formal etiquette, he was known for his ability to charm everyone he met. "In Nicholas' appearance," recalled the wife of a British ambassador Biuken, "there was true nobility and charisma, which was easier found deep within his serious blue eyes than in his lively and cheerful personality."