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Vladimir L. Borovikovskii, 1757-1825 was the
third prominent Russian portrait painter. He came from the Ukrainian minor
gentry. Though his father often painted icons, Vladimir as a young man showed
more interest in poetry than in art. His talent for painting was discovered
later and he became a painter when already a grown man. He moved to Saint
Petersburg, where he studied under Levitskii and Lampi. Similarly to his
teachers, Borovikovskii painted portraits of the members of high society and
rich merchants but the difference was that he was one of them and could better
capture their moods and inner feelings, though he never reached the mastery of
either Levitskii or Rokotov. The portrait of prince Kurakin is probably the
best of his male portraits. It was done in the grand style in which French
artists painted their royalty, with Kurakin dressed in a very elaborate double
woven coat with gold and precious stones and plenty of decorations on his
chest. Around his neck and at the end of his sleeves are very delicate frills.
On his legs are britches, white stockings and black shoes with a buckle. There
is heavy green drapery with golden fringes in the background and a white marble
bust of Emperor Paul I. Borovikovskii painted women more often than men,
chiefly using silvery green tones to make them look delicate. Among this best
are his portraits of M. I. Lopukhina, V. I. Arsenieva, F. A. Narishkina, E. C.
Temkina, Princess Bagration and countess Kushelev and her two children.
Borovikovskii probably was the first painter to paint simple people too, though
he did so only a few times. At the end of his life he became very much
interested in, almost hounded by religion, he followed the mysticism of the
Tatarinvskii sect and spent the rest of this life painting icons. See the
portraits of Arsen'yevna and the Gagarin sisters (portraits).
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