Lady in Pink (Portrait of N. Podbelskaya) (1912) Nikolay Feshin (1881-1955)

Description of the painting "Lady in Pink" by Nikolai Feshin

Nikolai Ivanovich was a very famous artist in Russia and the United States. Most of his paintings belonged to the Art Nouveau and Impressionist styles. He studied at the Academy of Arts, where he was in close contact with I.E. Repin.

Glorified his name in 1908, when he introduced the picture "Lady in pink. Otherwise, this picture is also called "Portrait of the unknown. The artist preferred to leave the name of the model in obscurity.

Later, the artist admitted that, in fact, it was a study work and, he was a little surprised by the gold medal, which he was awarded in Munich for the quality of the picture. The artist did it in record time - he painted the canvas in a few days. At the same time that some paintings he could paint for years.

Feshin used all his skills, accumulated over the years, to accurately convey the features of the young beauty’s face. To the viewer, at first glance, it might seem that the artist was so engrossed in working with the face and completely forgot about the background and attire of the model. But in fact this is not the case, with this abstraction Nikolai Ivanovich only wanted to emphasize the individuality and natural beauty of the woman in lilac attire.

The artist planned to use a painted canvas as a study, to somehow complicate the play of shadows in the picture. As a result, he painted, a portrait with delicate shades and an unusual play of shadows, which emphasizes the perfect features of the model’s face, illuminating it, and filling it with life.

The model clearly belonged to an aristocratic family, as evidenced by her rich attire, several rings on one hand and no less expensive handbag. And the very posture "gives" belonging to the aristocracy - the girl perfectly holds the posture and proudly tilts his head.

At the moment, the painting is in the State Russian Museum (which bought it immediately after the first presentation in 1908).