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Lot Essay
Alexander Makovsky's finished official portrait of Emperor Nicholas II, for which the present oil is a study, was commissioned for the headquarters of His Majesty's Hussar Regiment of the Guards in Tsarskoe Selo and completed in 1908. It is now held in the collection of the Tsarskoe Selo museum. The oil study was painted for the consideration of the Emperor and then remained at the Alexander Palace in Tsarskoe Selo.
Major-General Vladimir Nikolaevich Voeikov, Commander of the Guard Hussar Regiment between the years 1907-1913, received the study as a gift from the Emperor, Chief of the Regiment. In fact, as the recipient himself acknowledged, Major-General Voeikov asked Nicholas II whether he could possibly have the study. The Emperor agreed. The study then hung in Voeikov's office until 1913. Furthermore, the Emperor informed Voeikov that he was not altogether satisfied with the colours of the study (in particular with the colour of his beard). Makovsky made the minor changes requested by the Emperor for the finished composition.
General Voeikov was, through his important post, in frequent contact with the Emperor and was held in high regard by him. Voeikov's marriage to Baroness Eugenie Freedericksz, daughter of the minister of the Imperial Court, Count Vladimir Freedericksz, brought the Voeikovs even closer to the Imperial family. Several personal gifts, a wedding icon and an icon presented by the Emperor and Empress during a personal visit to the home of the Voeikovs, bear witness to this fact.
As a result of Baroness Eugenie Freedericksz's Finnish ancestry (her family were technically Finnish subjects as recipients of the title of Baron within the Finnish House of Nobility), the Voeikovs were able to leave Russia legally at the time of the Revolution. Furthermore, they also had the right to bring with them household goods, personal belongings and their book collection. A good number of the personal belongings of both families were thus saved. They lived for a number of years in Terijoki, Finland, before moving to Helsinki to join the Baroness's father, Count Freedericksz, and her sister, Countess Emma Freedericksz. In the 1940s, as the risk of Soviet occupation of Finland grew, the Voeikovs and Countess Freedericksz moved to Sweden (the aged Count Vladimir Freedericksz having died in 1927).
In Sweden, the legal and financial affairs of the family were handled by, among others, Vladimir Volkov, son of Vladimir Volkov and Varvara Petrovna, neé Countess Heiden. Known to be trustworthy and from a well-known Russian family, Volkov was given the task of drawing up the testaments of many Russians in emigration, including those of the Freedericksz' sisters and General Voeikov. Major-General Voeikov bequeathed the Makovsky study of the Emperor to Volkov on his death.
We are grateful to Dr Ulla Tillander-Godenhielm for providing this note.
Major-General Vladimir Nikolaevich Voeikov, Commander of the Guard Hussar Regiment between the years 1907-1913, received the study as a gift from the Emperor, Chief of the Regiment. In fact, as the recipient himself acknowledged, Major-General Voeikov asked Nicholas II whether he could possibly have the study. The Emperor agreed. The study then hung in Voeikov's office until 1913. Furthermore, the Emperor informed Voeikov that he was not altogether satisfied with the colours of the study (in particular with the colour of his beard). Makovsky made the minor changes requested by the Emperor for the finished composition.
General Voeikov was, through his important post, in frequent contact with the Emperor and was held in high regard by him. Voeikov's marriage to Baroness Eugenie Freedericksz, daughter of the minister of the Imperial Court, Count Vladimir Freedericksz, brought the Voeikovs even closer to the Imperial family. Several personal gifts, a wedding icon and an icon presented by the Emperor and Empress during a personal visit to the home of the Voeikovs, bear witness to this fact.
As a result of Baroness Eugenie Freedericksz's Finnish ancestry (her family were technically Finnish subjects as recipients of the title of Baron within the Finnish House of Nobility), the Voeikovs were able to leave Russia legally at the time of the Revolution. Furthermore, they also had the right to bring with them household goods, personal belongings and their book collection. A good number of the personal belongings of both families were thus saved. They lived for a number of years in Terijoki, Finland, before moving to Helsinki to join the Baroness's father, Count Freedericksz, and her sister, Countess Emma Freedericksz. In the 1940s, as the risk of Soviet occupation of Finland grew, the Voeikovs and Countess Freedericksz moved to Sweden (the aged Count Vladimir Freedericksz having died in 1927).
In Sweden, the legal and financial affairs of the family were handled by, among others, Vladimir Volkov, son of Vladimir Volkov and Varvara Petrovna, neé Countess Heiden. Known to be trustworthy and from a well-known Russian family, Volkov was given the task of drawing up the testaments of many Russians in emigration, including those of the Freedericksz' sisters and General Voeikov. Major-General Voeikov bequeathed the Makovsky study of the Emperor to Volkov on his death.
We are grateful to Dr Ulla Tillander-Godenhielm for providing this note.