2011 Artist Blog - Entry #23

Portrait of Maria Lopukhina, Oil on Canvas, 72 × 53.5 cm

Portrait of Paul I, Oil on Canvas

Vladimir Borovikovsky was a popular Russian portrait painter born in mid XVIII century who later acquired status of an academician. During his career, Borovikovsky has painted over 500 portraits, 400 of which survive to this day. He was born right in the time of rise of both Neoclassicism and Romanticism periods, characteristics and traits of which show up in all of Borovikovsky's work. I am starting to acquire a great interest in painting now that I've seen some of the work created by the most talented people in history. I have looked at over 50 portrait paintings by Borovikovsky and I am still in awe; the quality and the amount of detail in each portrait is astounding. He took great care in not only focusing on the faces but also paying special attention to the garments of the influential people portrayed. Each cloth and jewelry work is a true labor of love. A great example of that would be "Portrait of Prince Kuropotkin". Instead of secondary forms on the garments being plane and simple, Borovikovsky pays as much attention to those forms as he does to the more important areas such as the face. Doing so underlines the status of the person portrayed and the position they are in. The paintings are of almost photographic quality which I always found to be impressive. As a final note, I do not think I will look at black and white pencil drawings the same way ever again due to me being spoiled by such fantastic work of art done in paint. But I, of course, realize that foundational skills had to be learned with pencils on paper. (word count - 275)

Portrait of Prince Kuropotkin (detail), Oil on Canvas, 102 × 68.9 in

Lizonka and Dasha, Oil on Canvas, 31.8 х 26.1 cm

Portrait of A. G. and A. A. Lobanov-Rostovsky, Oil on Canvas