Mixed technic on cardboard from Valentin Alexandrovich Serov Валенти́н Алекса́ндрович Серо́в Size 69 x 49.50 cm. (27.16 X19.49 in.) The overall size including the frame: 75.50 x 55.50 cm.(29.72 x 21.85 in.) Signed in Cyrillic V. Serov on verso Provenance Come from a private collection.
Serov was born in St. Petersburg in 1865, son of the Russian composer Alexander Serov, and his wife Valentina Bergman, a composer of German-Jewish background. In his childhood, he studied in Paris and Moscow under Ilya Repin and in the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts (1880–1885) under Pavel Chistyakov. Serov's early creativity was sparked by the realistic art of Repin and strict pedagogical system of Chistyakov. Further influences on Serov were the old master paintings he viewed in the museums of Russia and Western Europe, friendships with Mikhail Vrubel and (later) Konstantin Korovin, and the creative atmosphere of the Abramtsevo Colony, to which he was closely connected Serov married Olga Trubnikova in 1887. His wife and his children were the subject of many of his works. Notably, his painting "Children" was of his sons Yura and Sasha. Valentin died in Moscow on December 5, 1911. He is buried at the Novodevichy Cemetery. Last auction was in 24/11/2014 Christie's London UK “Portrait of Maria Zetlin” Tempera, oil/board. Hammer price 10 368 080 € (8 200 000 £).