Valentin Serov1865–1911Portrait of Maria Yermolova
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Moskva, Rusland
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Portrait of Maria Yermolova (Russian: Портрет М. Н. Ермоловой) is a painting by the Russian artist Valentin Serov, completed in 1905. Measuring 224 × 120 cm, it was created to commemorate the 35th anniversary of Maria Nicolayevna Yermolova's debut at the Maly Theatre. The portrait was commissioned and funded by members of Moscow’s literary and artistic community. Work on the painting took place at Yermolova's residence on Tverskoy Boulevard, with the actress posing for thirty-two sessions. The painting was formally presented in 1907 at a banquet held in her honour.
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During Serov’s lifetime, the portrait was exhibited at the Tavricheskaya Exhibition (1905), organized by Sergei Diaghilev, and at the Russian Art Exhibition in Paris (1906), as well as at Union of Russian Artists exhibitions. In 1920, it became part of the Maly Theatre’s collection and was transferred to the State Tretyakov Gallery in 1935 (Inv. No. 28079). A known preparatory sketch reveals Serov’s early decisions on composition, perspective, and the monumentality of the image, with particular emphasis on Yermolova’s silhouette.
Created during the First Russian Revolution, the painting reflects Serov’s worldview shaped by events such as Bloody Sunday in 1905. In Yermolova’s image, he sought to express idealized traits associated with Russian humanist traditions. Contemporary responses were mixed—ranging from outright rejection to acclaim as a profound representation of the actress’s creative essence. Film director Sergei Eisenstein later noted that Serov’s compositional choices anticipated cinematic montage techniques.
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Мария Николаевна Ермолова (1853-1928) на протяжении нескольких десятилетий была примой Малого театра, а созданные ей бесчисленные сценические образы увековечили ее имя и талант в истории русского драматического искусства. Портрет актрисы был заказан Московским обществом любителей литературы и искусства в честь 35-летия ее артистической деятельности. Ермолова позировала художнику в репетиционном зале своего дома на Тверском бульваре (ныне Дом-музей Ермоловой, филиал государственного центрального театрального музея им.А.А. Бахрушина).
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Силуэт фигуры в строгом черном платье, сцепленные в замок руки, скупая нить жемчуга – ничего не отвлекает от величия и богатства внутреннего содержания модели. Подобно памятнику Ермолова возвышается над зрителем. Работа над портретом длилась тридцать два сеанса. В течение долгих часов она отрывалась лишь на несколько минут от своей неподвижной позы. Врожденная царственность, благородство, которым дышало каждое ее слово, каждый жест мастерски разглядел и передал в портрете чуткий Серов. Мария Стюарт, Жанна Д'Арк, Федра – великая русская актриса, любимица Москвы – такова «формула Ермоловой», выведенная кистью блистательного портретиста.
Однако родственники 52-летней модели сочли, что у Серова на полотне она выглядит значительно старше, но прошло совсем немного времени, и актриса стала точно такой, какой увидел ее живописец.
Tretjakovgalleriet
Oplysninger
- Inventarnummer
- 28079
I kataloget
Kilder
- Tretjakovgalleriet
- Billede: Tretjakovgalleriet — Museum open access
Imens i livet hos Valentin Serov
Hele livet1878–1911 · Virkested
Moscow
October – November 1903
A grave illness and surgery for peritonitis
In early October 1903 Serov fell gravely ill and even wrote his will. The operation on 25 November at Chegodayev’s surgical clinic revealed a perforated stomach and peritonitis, but it went well and the artist survived.
30 October 1903
Elected a full member of the Academy of Arts
On 30 October 1903 Serov was elected a full member of the Academy of Arts; in April he had declined the post of “professor-leader” of a studio at the Higher Art School of the Academy.
1904
Travel: Italy
1905
Leaves the Academy after “Bloody Sunday”
Because of Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich’s role in the events of “Bloody Sunday”, Serov left the Academy of Arts in January 1905; the Grand Duke was its president. Under the impression of those events he painted “Brave Little Soldiers…” and “The Dispersal of a Demonstration by Cossacks in 1905”.
1906
19 works at the Russian exhibition of the Salon d’Automne
In 1906 the exhibition of Russian art that Diaghilev organised within the Salon d’Automne in Paris showed 19 works by Serov; earlier in the year he had taken part in the exhibition of members of the former “World of Art”.
