Nikolai Petrovich Bogdanov-Belsky

The family of the sitter

St. Petersburg, Fine Art Exhibition, 1902

Original canvas. There is a layer of light surface dirt and the varnish is slightly discoloured. UV light reveals some spots of retouching to the background. Held in an ornate plaster frame. Unexamined out of frame.
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NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Maria Bauer (1882-1961), a famous Hungarian beauty, was the wife of the millionaire, Nikolai Sorokoumovsky, who owned the firm Pavel Sorokumovsky & Sons, supplier of furs to the Imperial Court.

 

Nikoali Bogdanov-Belsky painted two portraits of Maria. The first, from 1901 and titled Carmen, was bought during its first public exhibition in St. Petersburg. The second, offered at auction here for the first time, is believed to have been painted in 1902 in Bogdanov-Belsky's St. Petersburg studio. It remained in the collection of the Sorokumovsky family ever since and for many years hung in their Moscow residence at 4, Leont'evsky pereulok.

 

The Bauer family were great patrons of the arts and had close ties with leading European artists of the day. Maria's cousin, Adele Bloch-Bauer, was immortalised by Gustav Klimt in his celebrated 1907 portrait of her, which in 2006 became the most expensive artwork ever to be sold.

 

We are grateful to Nina Lapidus for providing additional cataloguing information.