Valentin Alexandrovich Serov

In the same family since before the First World War

Probably Moscow, IX Periodical Exhibition of the Moscow Society of Art Lovers, 1889, listed on p.8 as no.131, Kopiya s Velaskesa

I.Zilbershtein, V.Samkov, Valentin Serov v vospominaniyakh, dnevnikakh i perepiske sovremennikov, vol.2, referenced on pp.146 and 189

Original canvas which has been restretched so that the original right-hand tacking edge is visible, but hidden by the frame. There is a small hole to the upper right edge of the canvas. There are frame abrasions with associated paint loss along all four edges. There is craquelure throughout the composition which is slightly lifting in places but is currently stable. Vertical and horizontal cracks are particularly notable on the sitter's face. There are two small areas of paint loss to the cap and one to the background to the right of the sitter's forehead, all of which have been retouched but are visible to the naked eye. There are some further scattered flecks of paint loss in places. The work is covered in a layer of glossy varnish. Inspection under UV light reveals retouching made at different stages, including to the edges, the left side of the face, to the aforementioned losses, the initial V of the signature as well as some minor scattered retouching. Held in a gold coloured wooden frame with red velvet slip. Unexamined out of frame.
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In a letter dated 6 May 1889 Serov writes to the collector Ilya Ostroukhov about the progress on a copy of a portrait of Pope Innocent X by Velázquez at the Hermitage (quoted in Valentin Serov v perepiske, interv’yu I dokumentakh, Leningrad, 1985, p.154). The work Serov was copying was among those acquired by Catherine the Great from Sir Robert Walpole’s estate Houghton Hall in 1778. It was later sold by the Soviet Government and is now at the National Gallery of Art in Washington with the attribution Circle of Velásquez.

In his memoirs, Alexander Golovin also refers to this episode and recalls the persistence with which he copied the portrait (Valentin Serov v vospominaniyakh, dnevnikakh i perepiske sovremennikov, Leningrad, 1971, vol.1, p.225). Golovin was particularly struck by the faithfulness of Serov’s version and the fact that even the dimensions are identical suggests that this may have primarily been a technical exercise. It is however interesting to note that Serov thought the work important enough to be included in the IX Periodical Exhibition of the Moscow Society of Art Lovers. The reviews spoke highly of it with one critic referring to it as a ‘superb copy’ and another calling the artist the ‘Moscow Velázquez’ (Valentin Serov v perepiske, interv’yu I dokumentakh, Leningrad, 1985, p.155). While the work is not thought to have been shown in public since, the editors of Valentin Serov v vospominaniyakh, dnevnikakh i perepiske sovremennikov, Ilya Zilbershtein and Vladimir Samkov, were aware of its existence in a private collection in Paris (1971, vol.2, p.189).