Zinaida Nikolaevna Yusupova

Today we start our special month with the State Russian Museum. :) It means that for the next four Sundays we will present the pieces from their collection. Enjoy!:))

Valentin Serov lived only 45 years, but in three decades of creativity he managed to create so much, managed to develop his talent in so different directions, that it would be enough for many. The artist was in constant search. Dissatisfied with himself, he overcame the old and found a new one, went forward consistently, and did not stop for a minute on the spot. He was destined to become the artist who practically made the transition from the old art to the new one. Serov as the finaliter of the old art is a true classic, the successor of the work of his teachers, including the great I. Repin, and at the same time he is an artist of the new century, a master who opened a wide perspective.

Serov worked in all genres, but his portraits brought him special fame. At the beginning of the 20th century, Valentin Serov was the most fashionable portraitist in Russia. And it's amazing, because he never flattered his models. In search of the sharp and characteristic, he reached almost to the grotesque. The modern era, however, saw this as a special style for bright individuality that was valued above decency and traditional appeal.

Zinaida Nikolaevna Yusupova should not have worried about the "poisonous" Serov’s brush. The artist was fascinated by her. It is difficult to name someone who would not love Zinaida Nikolaevna. She was educated, smart, tactful, but most importantly very kind and had a sincerity that is not often found at the top of aristocratic society. Her family really was one of the most famous and rich in Russia. To begin with, her grandfather was a Catherine grandee, Voltaire's interlocutor, and the owner of the Arkhangelskoye estate.  Her husband was the Moscow Governor General; her son Felix was known as a murderer of Rasputin. They say the family endured a longstanding and terrible fate, the death of the firstborn male. Zinaida Nikolaevna did not escape this fate; in 1910 she buried her beloved eldest son, who died in a duel.

After the revolution of 1917, Zinaida and her family were forced to leave Russia. At first she lived with her husband in Rome; after his death she moved to her son in France. She died in 1939 in Paris.

P.S. See here a Russian winter in Konstantin Korovin’s eyes.