Fedor Tolstoi (1783-1873)

Red and white currants

Details

Fedor Tolstoi (1783-1873)
Red and white currants
signed in Cyrillic and inscribed in Russian 'Drawn from nature, Count Feodor Tolstoi' (lower right), dated '1818' (lower left)
pencil and watercolour, heightened with white, on paper
6 x 9½ in. (15.5 x 24 cm.)

Brought to you by

Alexis de Tiesenhausen

Check the condition report or get in touch for additional information about this

atiesenhausen@christies.com +44 (0)20 7389 2605

If you wish to view the condition report of this lot, please sign in to your account.

View condition report

Lot Essay

Currants were popular motifs for Fedor Tolstoi: after presenting a similar work to Empress Elisabeth Alekseevna, wife of Emperor Alexander I, the artist was presented with a diamond ring and thereafter was commissioned to repeat the composition whenever the Empress required a gift for a member of the Imperial family or an important member of the court. According to his daughter, Tolstoi claimed that his '...whole family was fed by a single currant'. A similar version of this watercolour, dated 1818, is in the State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow.

More from Russian Art

View All