The artists daughter olga nesterova Mikhail Nesterov (1862-1942)

Description of Mikhail Nesterov’s painting "Portrait of O. M. Nesterova’s Daughter. M. Nesterova".

Portrait of Mikhail Vasilievich Nesterov’s daughter, Olga Nesterova, painted by her father in 1906, becoming one of the artist’s first works in the portrait genre. The painting is also known as The Amazon; it shows a slender young girl in a black amazon and a red little cap, standing on the bank of a river. Olga bowed her head slightly, looking trustingly with wide-open blue eyes. Her dark silhouette stands out especially clearly against the background of the sunset-lit river and backwoods meadows.

In this portrait, as in all the artist’s works, Nesterov shows great attention to the subtle shades of soul and the smallest facial features. The painter tries to reflect reality as he sees it, in all its diversity of colors. The painting is imbued with the beauty and grandeur of youth, life-affirming power. The girl’s gaze seems a bit sad and detached from the world around her, but at the same time it expresses recognition and immeasurable admiration for it.

Portrait of Olga Mikhailovna Nesterova is one of several paintings dedicated to the artist’s family. There is evidence that at the time his daughter was ill and was preparing for a serious operation, for which reason Mikhail Vasilyevich, fearing a possible imminent parting with her, sought to portray her features in a portrait. Like her father, Olga was also later engaged in the fine arts, although she never received an art education: she embroidered her paintings with silk on canvas, as the goldsmiths in Russia used to do in the past.