Portrait of Catherine Sergeevna Avdulinoy. H. 1822, 81h64 am GRM Orest Adamovich Kiprensky (1782-1836)

Description of the painting "Portrait of Avdulina" by Orest Kiprensky

The Russian artist Kiprensky completed a portrait of a woman in 1823 that later became recognized as one of the best in the genre of Romanticism. He painted Ekaterina Avdulina in Paris, the wife of a major-general who was a great admirer of secular balls and acquaintances with people of art.

The picture gives the impression of poetry and a certain sadness. It is recognizable partial resemblance to Leonardo’s Gioconda: the nature behind the window, hands folded in the same way. The color scheme of the canvas is surprisingly laconic: dramatic coal-black in combination with warm mustard color. A vase with a withering stem of white hyacinth on the windowsill complements the gloomy and elegiac atmosphere.

The landscape outside the window is represented by a small patch of verdant grove and the oppressive sight of gray, purple storm clouds. Against such a backdrop, Catherine’s face seems even more fragile, defenseless. In her eyes you can read the soul of the heroine, some kind of internal breakdown. She herself is dressed in a black dress of velvet and an expensive shawl embroidered with fine patterns. Beads of large pearls sparkle on her strong neck. In her hand she holds a folded fan. Surprisingly realistic painted feminine hands. Her face is framed in a yellow bow and a beautiful transparent openwork rim.

The lady seems to the viewer detached, closed, silent, not wanting to give away the mysteries of his heart. But the artist, it seems, managed to read her soul. Contemporaries have recognized that Catherine’s character is conveyed with extraordinary precision, and that she captures the particularity of her nature which distinguishes her from other people. Nowadays it is of course impossible to verify the similarity with the original, however, this fact does not prevent us from talking about the genius of the portrait.

What makes the portrait fascinating is Kiprensky’s masterly ability to compose the play of light and shadow, to balance the composition, to make it restrained in colors and excessively verbose in the description of the spiritual content.