Iosif Evstafievich Krachkovsky

Private collection, UK

In the late 1890s and early 1900s Krachkovsky painted many views of fruit trees in bloom in Crimea. These were often commissions from the highest members of the Imperial Family, including Tsar Nicholas II and his mother Dowager Empress Maria Fedorovna who would spend the summers at their palace at Livadia. These Crimean views were equally popular with the public in both Russia and Europe and were exhibited at Krachkovsky's solo exhibitions in Paris, Nice and St Petersburg.