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Lot Essay
The fascinating history of two portraits of the Tsesarevich Alexander Nikolaevich painted after George Dawe (lot 22) and Franz Krüger (lot 23) is captured in several archival documents and photographs. After almost 90 years since their first sale at Christie’s in 1929, Christie’s is again honoured to offer these magnificent portraits at auction.
George Dawe and Franz Krüger travelled to Russia upon the invitation of the respective Tsars: Alexander I and Nicolas I, and both artists enjoyed glittering careers as portraitists in Imperial Russia.
George Dawe was born in London in 1781, and his father was the engraver Philip Dawe. He graduated from the Royal Academy in London with a gold medal, and became an Academician in 1814. After the Napoleonic Wars, Tsar Alexander I invited him to St Petersburg to paint portraits of all the senior Russian officers who had fought against Napoleon. Dawe travelled to St Petersburg in 1819, where over the next nine years he painted numerous portraits. He quickly distinguished himself as an artist capable of creating startlingly realistic likenesses at speed. Many of these portraits can be found in the War Gallery of the Winter Palace. During his stay in St Petersburg Dawe also painted portraits of members of the Imperial family.
Prussian painter Franz Krüger was born in Großbadegast in 1797 and studied at the Academy of Arts in Berlin, gaining full membership in 1825. Krüger’s first success came with the 1820 exhibition at the Academy of Arts, where his works were well received by the critics and public alike. The first Imperial commission followed in 1824, received from the Grand Duke Nicholas Pavlovich, who asked the artist to paint Parade on the Opernplatz in Berlin (Nationalgalerie, Staatliche Museen, Berlin). This laid the foundation for the artist’s long-lasting relationship with the Russian Imperial court. In 1832, for the first time, Krüger travelled to St Petersburg to paint the portrait of Alexander I for the War Gallery at the Winter Palace. Between 1836 and 1850 Krüger undertook several more trips to St Petersburg to paint other members of the Imperial family.
A 1874 watercolour by Eduard Hau (1807-1887) captures in minute detail the opulent interior of the closet of Empress Maria Alexandrovna (1824-1880) in Gatchina Palace. The central wall is dedicated to the children of Nicolas I and Maria Alexandrovna painted by George Dawe: A double-portrait of Alexander and Maria on a swing, Portrait of Alexander as a child holding a gun and Portrait of Alexander in adolescence [wearing the uniform of the Leib Guard Black Sea Cossack squadron].
The 1858 catalogue of pictures belonging to Her Majesty the Empress Maria Alexandrovna (Archives of the State Hermitage, folio I, inv. VI, item 47, no. 144, p. 20) lists Dawe’s Portrait of Alexander in adolescence and confirms its location in Gatchina Palace.
It has been suggested that Grand Duke Paul inherited Portrait of Alexander in adolescence [wearing the uniform of the Leib Guard Black Sea Cossack squadron] from his mother as the painting, in the same frame as depicted in Hau’s interior, appears on the wall of the Grand Duke’s Palace on the English Embankment, circa 1891 (W. Zeisler, Vivre la Belle Époque à Paris. Olga Paley et Paul de Russie, Paris, 2018, p. 57).
In 1922 an influential Russian art critic and historian, Erich Gollerbakh studied Paley’s collection in their palace in Tsarskoe Selo and produced a publication, listing the works and authors and illustrating archival photographs of the interiors: Portrait of Tsesarevich Alexander Nikolaevich in the uniform of the Leib Guard Black Sea Cossack squadron is visible in situ in the photograph of the Oak Salon of the Paley Palace, and Portrait of the Tsesarevitch Alexander Nikolaevich in the uniform of the Atamansky Cossack regiment of His Imperial Highness the Heir the Tsesarevitch is seen in the photograph of the Grand Parlour of the Palace. The portrait of Alexander as a child holding a gun by Dawe which was also in the collection of Empress Maria Alexandrovna is also listed by Gollerbakh.
Olga Karnovich, the future Princess Paley was born in St Petersburg, the daughter of Valerian Karnovich, a doctor attached to the Imperial Court, and his wife Olga Meszaros. In May 1884 Olga married Erich Augustinovich von Pistohlkors (1853-1935), an officer of the Imperial Guard and aide-de-camp to Grand Duke Vladimir, and they had four children together. The couple soon began to welcome Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovich at Tsarskoe Selo. Grand Duke Paul was the youngest child of Alexander II, the brother of Alexander III, and the uncle of Nicholas II. In 1889 he married Princess Alexandra of Greece and Denmark, but their marriage was short lived as Alexandra died in childbirth in 1891. The bereaved Grand Duke found solace and escape at the Pistohlkors’ residence in Tsarskoe Selo, and soon he became close to Olga. Ultimately, Olga divorced her husband and Paul requested permission from his nephew Nicholas II to remarry, a request which was refused by the Tsar who disapproved of Olga’s divorced status. Banished from Russia, the couple married in 1902 in Livorno Italy, had three children together and later settled in France. It was not until 1912 that Nicholas II recognised Paul and Olga’s morganatic marriage, which encouraged the couple to move back to Russia in 1914. In 1915 Nicholas bestowed upon Olga the title of Princess Paley, which would also extend to her children. After the February Revolution and the Tsar’s abdication, events in Russia spiralled, and Grand Duke Paul was arrested in 1918 and executed by the Bolsheviks. Princess Paley and her daughters escaped revolutionary Russia and later settled in Paris.
In 1928, Princess Olga Paley filed a lawsuit for the return of her possessions from a syndicate that had legally acquired them from the Soviet Government. A decree, passed in November 1920, stated that those who fled Russia following the 1917 revolution were automatically deprived of any claim to their property; this was later bolstered to stipulate that works of museum quality should become the property of the State and any other scheduled articles could be returned to their original owners. The case took place in London before Mr Justice MacKinnon of the King’s Bench in 1928. The plaintiff’s case which was represented by Mr Jowitt, maintained that the property was formerly in the Princess’s palace in Tsarskoe selo, which she was forced to leave at the beginning of 1919 and had never consented to abandon. The defendants claimed that the property had been legally acquired and that the Soviet confiscation and sale of the Princess’s property was a legal act under the Soviet State. Paley lost the case, and a year later came to an arrangement with the syndicate to jointly auction the property at Christie’s, at a sale which took place in London on 21st June 1929.
George Dawe and Franz Krüger travelled to Russia upon the invitation of the respective Tsars: Alexander I and Nicolas I, and both artists enjoyed glittering careers as portraitists in Imperial Russia.
George Dawe was born in London in 1781, and his father was the engraver Philip Dawe. He graduated from the Royal Academy in London with a gold medal, and became an Academician in 1814. After the Napoleonic Wars, Tsar Alexander I invited him to St Petersburg to paint portraits of all the senior Russian officers who had fought against Napoleon. Dawe travelled to St Petersburg in 1819, where over the next nine years he painted numerous portraits. He quickly distinguished himself as an artist capable of creating startlingly realistic likenesses at speed. Many of these portraits can be found in the War Gallery of the Winter Palace. During his stay in St Petersburg Dawe also painted portraits of members of the Imperial family.
Prussian painter Franz Krüger was born in Großbadegast in 1797 and studied at the Academy of Arts in Berlin, gaining full membership in 1825. Krüger’s first success came with the 1820 exhibition at the Academy of Arts, where his works were well received by the critics and public alike. The first Imperial commission followed in 1824, received from the Grand Duke Nicholas Pavlovich, who asked the artist to paint Parade on the Opernplatz in Berlin (Nationalgalerie, Staatliche Museen, Berlin). This laid the foundation for the artist’s long-lasting relationship with the Russian Imperial court. In 1832, for the first time, Krüger travelled to St Petersburg to paint the portrait of Alexander I for the War Gallery at the Winter Palace. Between 1836 and 1850 Krüger undertook several more trips to St Petersburg to paint other members of the Imperial family.
A 1874 watercolour by Eduard Hau (1807-1887) captures in minute detail the opulent interior of the closet of Empress Maria Alexandrovna (1824-1880) in Gatchina Palace. The central wall is dedicated to the children of Nicolas I and Maria Alexandrovna painted by George Dawe: A double-portrait of Alexander and Maria on a swing, Portrait of Alexander as a child holding a gun and Portrait of Alexander in adolescence [wearing the uniform of the Leib Guard Black Sea Cossack squadron].
The 1858 catalogue of pictures belonging to Her Majesty the Empress Maria Alexandrovna (Archives of the State Hermitage, folio I, inv. VI, item 47, no. 144, p. 20) lists Dawe’s Portrait of Alexander in adolescence and confirms its location in Gatchina Palace.
It has been suggested that Grand Duke Paul inherited Portrait of Alexander in adolescence [wearing the uniform of the Leib Guard Black Sea Cossack squadron] from his mother as the painting, in the same frame as depicted in Hau’s interior, appears on the wall of the Grand Duke’s Palace on the English Embankment, circa 1891 (W. Zeisler, Vivre la Belle Époque à Paris. Olga Paley et Paul de Russie, Paris, 2018, p. 57).
In 1922 an influential Russian art critic and historian, Erich Gollerbakh studied Paley’s collection in their palace in Tsarskoe Selo and produced a publication, listing the works and authors and illustrating archival photographs of the interiors: Portrait of Tsesarevich Alexander Nikolaevich in the uniform of the Leib Guard Black Sea Cossack squadron is visible in situ in the photograph of the Oak Salon of the Paley Palace, and Portrait of the Tsesarevitch Alexander Nikolaevich in the uniform of the Atamansky Cossack regiment of His Imperial Highness the Heir the Tsesarevitch is seen in the photograph of the Grand Parlour of the Palace. The portrait of Alexander as a child holding a gun by Dawe which was also in the collection of Empress Maria Alexandrovna is also listed by Gollerbakh.
Olga Karnovich, the future Princess Paley was born in St Petersburg, the daughter of Valerian Karnovich, a doctor attached to the Imperial Court, and his wife Olga Meszaros. In May 1884 Olga married Erich Augustinovich von Pistohlkors (1853-1935), an officer of the Imperial Guard and aide-de-camp to Grand Duke Vladimir, and they had four children together. The couple soon began to welcome Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovich at Tsarskoe Selo. Grand Duke Paul was the youngest child of Alexander II, the brother of Alexander III, and the uncle of Nicholas II. In 1889 he married Princess Alexandra of Greece and Denmark, but their marriage was short lived as Alexandra died in childbirth in 1891. The bereaved Grand Duke found solace and escape at the Pistohlkors’ residence in Tsarskoe Selo, and soon he became close to Olga. Ultimately, Olga divorced her husband and Paul requested permission from his nephew Nicholas II to remarry, a request which was refused by the Tsar who disapproved of Olga’s divorced status. Banished from Russia, the couple married in 1902 in Livorno Italy, had three children together and later settled in France. It was not until 1912 that Nicholas II recognised Paul and Olga’s morganatic marriage, which encouraged the couple to move back to Russia in 1914. In 1915 Nicholas bestowed upon Olga the title of Princess Paley, which would also extend to her children. After the February Revolution and the Tsar’s abdication, events in Russia spiralled, and Grand Duke Paul was arrested in 1918 and executed by the Bolsheviks. Princess Paley and her daughters escaped revolutionary Russia and later settled in Paris.
In 1928, Princess Olga Paley filed a lawsuit for the return of her possessions from a syndicate that had legally acquired them from the Soviet Government. A decree, passed in November 1920, stated that those who fled Russia following the 1917 revolution were automatically deprived of any claim to their property; this was later bolstered to stipulate that works of museum quality should become the property of the State and any other scheduled articles could be returned to their original owners. The case took place in London before Mr Justice MacKinnon of the King’s Bench in 1928. The plaintiff’s case which was represented by Mr Jowitt, maintained that the property was formerly in the Princess’s palace in Tsarskoe selo, which she was forced to leave at the beginning of 1919 and had never consented to abandon. The defendants claimed that the property had been legally acquired and that the Soviet confiscation and sale of the Princess’s property was a legal act under the Soviet State. Paley lost the case, and a year later came to an arrangement with the syndicate to jointly auction the property at Christie’s, at a sale which took place in London on 21st June 1929.