Valentin Serov Biography

Valentin Serov Portrait

The artist Valentin Alexandrovich Serov was born into the family of famous Russian composer Alexander Serov. In 1871, his father died, and in 1872-73 Valentin and his widowed mother, née Bergman, lived in Munich, where he took lessons from the artist K. Kepping. In 1874, they moved to Paris, where Valentin regularly visited the studio of

Ilya Repin, who was very fond of the little boy. In 1875, the Serovs came to live at Abramtsevo, the estate of the industrial tycoon and patron Savva Mamontov, where artists, musicians and actors were always welcome. Valentin grew up in the atmosphere of constant creativity that characterized the Mamontovs’ household. He was fortunate to receive a professional education from the earliest childhood from the some of the best Russian artists, and he soon showed himself to be a remarkably precocious draughtsman. He could catch the likeness of a model often more quickly and confidently than older artists in the spontaneous drawing competitions that were part of the daily life at Abramtsevo. At the age of 15, Serov entered Academy of Arts in the class of professor Pavel Tchistykov. There he met his lifelong friend Vladimir Derviz. His first exhibited works Girl with Peaches. Portrait of Vera Mamontova. (1887) and Girl in the Sunlight. Portrait of Maria Simonovich. (1888) were a sensation. Critics called them groundbreaking. When he painted them, Serov was unfamiliar with the works of the French Impressionists, but these luminous, sunny, splendidly composed portraits are strongly reminiscent of Renoir.

Serov tried himself in different genres: he was a beautiful landscape painter in a more sensuous and less nostalgic vein than another teacher of his, Isaac Levitan: Pond in Abramtsevo. (1886), The Overgrown Pond. Domotcanovo. (1888), Village. (1898), Watermill in Finland. (1902). Serov’s historical paintings are also of value and interest: Peter II and Princess Elizabeth Petrovna Riding to Hounds. (1900), Peter the Great. (1907).

However, Serov was best recognized for his portraiture, and was one of the most successful and brilliant portraitist in Russia in the period 1890-1910. His most famous portraits are Portrait of the Actress Maria Yermolova. (1905), Portrait of Henrietta Girshman. (1907), Portrait of Ida Rubenstein. (1910), Portrait of Maria Zetlin (1910), Portrait of Princess Olga Orlova. (1911).

Serov traveled a lot, participating in exhibitions in Russia and abroad. In 1897-1909, Serov taught at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture. His students noted that Serov was a superb technical master of many painting media. Among his pupils were N.N. Sapunov, M.I. Mashkov, P.V. Kuznetsov, N.P. Krymov, Kuzma Petrov-Vodkin, C.Y. Sudeykin, K.F. Yuon and others. In 1903, he was elected member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts. Serov died in 1911.

Bibliography

Serov by V. Leniashin. Russian Painters of the XIX century. Moscow. 1989.

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.

Valentin Serov: Portraits of Russia's Silver Age by Elizabeth Valkenier. Northwestern University Press, 2001.

Valentin Serov. 1865 - 1911. Paintings. Graphic Art. by Vladimir Leniashin, Vladimir Kruglov, Yevgenia Petrova, Joseph Kiblitsky. Palace Editions, 2005.

  • Valentin Serov. Girl with Peaches. Portrait of Vera Mamontova.
    Girl With Peaches. Portrait Of Vera Mamontova.

    1887. Oil on canvas. The Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, Russia. Read Note.

  • Valentin Serov. Girl in the Sunlight. Portrait of Maria Simonovich.
    Girl In The Sunlight. Portrait Of Maria Simonovich.

    1888. Oil on canvas. The Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, Russia. Read Note.

  • Valentin Serov. Pond in Abramtsevo.
    Pond In Abramtsevo.

    1886. Study. Oil on wood. The Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, Russia.

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