Konstantin Egorovich Makovsky

Niva, 1899, no.42, p.85, illustrated
G.Romanov and A.Muratov, Zhivopis' russkogo salona (1850-1917), St Petersburg: Zolotoi Vek, 2004, p.395, illustrated in black and white, titled Vo vremena imperii, 1898

An image of the present lot appeared in Niva, one the first of the illustrated Russian weeklies intended to appeal to the wider public in contrast to the more weighty ideological monthly journals aimed at the intelligentsia. Konstantin Makovsky was one of the artists whose paintings was reproduced in the colour supplement that was offered as an inducement to subscribe. In 1899, the circulation of the magazine was over 200,000, and the art supplement was one of its most popular features.

The portrait is remarkable for the level of detail in the costume: the embroidery on the sitter's dress, the golden threads in the headpiece and translucence of her yellow scarf are beautifully observed. Titled In the Time of Empire in Niva, the sitter's tentative smile and air of light melancholy does convey an impression of nostalgia, characteristic of Makovsky's female portraiture.