Aleksey Antropov at Artprice. To look at auction records, find Antropov's works in upcoming auctions, check price levels and indexes for his works, read his biography and view his signature, access the Artprice database.
Aleksey
Petrovich Antropov was born in 1716 into the family of a soldier. His inclination
for art was revealed early. He studied painting under Andrey
Matveev and Ivan Vishnyakov.
Since the 1740s he took part in the decoration of the numerous palaces
of St. Petersburg. In 1752-1755, he was commissioned to paint The Kiev
Cathedral of St. Andrew. Since 1761 he was the chief painter of the Synod.
He was also famous for his portrait-painting. Among his best are Portrait
of the Lady-in-Waiting A. M. Izmaylova (1759), Portrait
of Emperor Peter III (1762), Portrait
of Countess M. A. Rumyantzeva (1764).
Notes
Countess Maria Rumyantzeva (1699-1788),
the daughter of Count Andrey Matveev, who was in diplomatic service during
Peter
I the Great's reign, she was well educated, after living with her father
in Paris and London. In her youth she was very beautiful and graceful,
which attracted Peter the Great. She was his mistress and her son, the
famous Russian Field-Marshal Count Peter Rumyantzev, was probably sired
by the Emperor. Peter I married her to his orderly Alexander Rumyantzev,
whom he later sent to diplomatic service. Rumyantzeva, as well as her husband,
held high positions at the courts of Elizaveta
Petrovna and Catherine II. Her husband
was made a count in 1755.
See: Aleksey Antropov. Portrait
of Countess M. A. Rumyantzeva.
William W. Fermor (1702-1771), Count, General
in Chief (1755), son of an emigrant from Britain. In 1730s was an aide-de-camp
of the field marshal B. Minich; participated in Russia’s wars with Turkey
(1735-39) and Sweden (1741-43). During the Seven-Year War (1756-63) between
the coalitions of Russia, Sweden, France and Austria against Prussia and
Britain, he commanded the Russian Army in 1757-58, but was dismissed for
hesitance and irresolution. In 1763, he was a general-governor of Smolensk,
after 1764, he became senator.
See: Aleksey Antropov. Portrait
of General-in-Chief, Count William W. Fermor.
Bibliography:
Russian Portrait. XVIII-XIX centuries. Moscow. 1976. ( in Russian)
Russian Painters. St. Petersburg. 1998. (in Russian)
The
Art and Architecture of Russia (Pelican History Art) by George
Heard Hamilton. Yale Univ Pr, 1992.
A
Dictionary of Russian and Soviet Artists 1420-1970 by John
Milner. Antique Collectors' Club, 1993.