Russia and the Arts: the Age of Tolstoy and Tchaikovsky

Fascinating exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery of pictures of writers, actors, musicians and art patrons from Russia at the end of the 19th century.

The portraits were collected and commissioned by Pavel Tretakov for the state gallery he set up. This proved to be a golden age for Russian portraiture and the arts there. The pictures were really well hung with interesting dialogues being set up. I loved the wall with Turgenev, Dostoevsky and Tolstoy in a line. I also discovered lots of interesting new people I want to investigate further such as the patron Savva Mamontov who founded an artists’ colony and financed an opera company and yet he looks like a very serious railway magnate in his picture.

My two favourite pictures were both of women. I loved the poster girl Baroness Varvara Ikskill von Holdenbandt in a wonderful red dress with the finest black veil on her hat which seemed to split her face in half. I also liked a full length picture of the actress Maria Ermolova with a minimal background but a great use of a mirror.

Closes on 26 June 2016.

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