825. Valentin Serov (1865-1911), Russian,

Portrait of Ida Rubenstein, 1910.

Tempera and black chalk on canvas, 147 x 233 cm.

Russian Museum, St. Petersburg.

 

 

This portrait can be said to conform to the new style in every way. The famous ballerina posed for Serov in the nude, and this obliged the artist to forestall any associations of the future portrait with reality. Serov did not portray Ida Rubenstein: he created an image out of the boundless possibilities presented by the model. In doing so he sought to combine the abstract with the real, something typical of the Art Nouveau, as such, and also typical of almost all of Serov’s canvas. Only three hues are present in the colour scheme—blue, green, and brown—without any gradations or combinations. Each colour is isolated and local. The spatial environment is not designed, be it by colour or compositional arrangement or perspective. She seems not to be seated, but sprawled, pressed to the canvas, which, for all her beguiling features, creates an impression of weakness and vulnerability. Serov regarded Ida Rubenstein with admiration, although he did not stress the characteristic aspect of her image at the expense of the ideal.