Portrait of S. Mamontov. 1887 Valentin Serov (1865-1911)

Description of Valentin Serov’s painting "Portrait of S. I. Mamontov".

Savva Ivanovich Mamontov, being a patron of the arts and a collector known throughout the Russian Empire, was also a very close person to the artist Valentin Serov. Mamontov was a protégé of many artists and art figures, he organized house plays, venues for cultural events, and his estate in Abramtsevo became a real center of artistic life in Russia at that time.

Savva Mamontov’s estate was home to famous Russian artists, among them: Vrubel, Vasnetsov, Repin, Nesterov and Serov himself. Providing financial support to artists, Mamontov made a significant contribution to the cultural development of nineteenth-century Russia.

Savva Ivanovich Mamontov was particularly attracted to Serov’s artistic style; his daughter Vera is known to be the famous girl with peaches, depicted in Valentin Serov’s painting The Girl with the Peaches, which is currently in the Moscow Tretyakov Art Gallery.

The portrait by Savva Ivanovich Mamontov is in oil on canvas and is a classic chamber belt portrait in the heat of realism. The background made in dark colors is deliberately shaded by Serov to emphasize the importance of Mamontov’s figure. Particular attention is paid to the state of mind of the portrayed man. The gaze of Savva Ivanovich Mamontov expresses interest and passion for his favorite work, as if at the moment the portrayed individual is not occupied with posing but with attentively looking at another picture by Vrubel, for instance. At the same time Mamontov’s gaze is very warm and understanding.

The special importance of the portrayed figure is emphasized by accents, such as the highlighted white collar under the dark, to match the background of the jacket and the hand busily slipped into his trouser pocket.