Portrait of Princess Orlova
by SEROV, Valentin, Oil on canvas, 238 x 160 cm
Serov, who taught at the Moscow College of Art from 1897 to 1909, was later to be a high-society portrait artist, painting aristocrats and intellectuals. He had a firm grasp of the fleeting moment, and a bravura sense of colour. These qualities, and the nervous tensions or decorative zest of his outlining, made his works highly evocative.