Ida Rubinstein

We continue our special month with The State Russian Museum.  We will present pieces from their collection every Sunday this month. 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 final example of the old art is a true classic, the successor of the work of his teachers, including the great I. Repin. At the same time he is an artist of the new century, a master who opened a wide perspective.

Portrait of Ida Rubinstein (1910) corresponds to the conventions of the new style. The famous ballerina posed nude for Serov. This alone obliged the artist to prevent associations with the real model. Serov did not represent I. Rubinstein, but created an image, using the model as material. At the same time, he was looking for a connection between the invented and the real, which is generally characteristic of modernity. The curved lines of the contour of the figure lie directly on the canvas. The color palette consists of only three colors: blue, green and light brown. Each of them is isolated. No color, no composition, no perspective—nothing reveals the space in which the figure is placed. It seems that it is flattened, pressed against the canvas, and with all the sharpness and extravagance of the model, this creates the impression of her weakness and defenselessness.

P.S. Read a story of Ida Rubinstein and Romaine Brooks and their struggle with being bisexual at the beginning of 20th century.