Bernard Nivet; and Portrait of a woman

According to the artist’s inscription, this drawing was executed in the summer of 1934 in Grandvilliers village in Normandy, home to the parents of Boris Snejkovsky. During Somov’s visit, the Snejkovskys also had another guest, the woman in the hat depicted in the photograph. Somov was seemingly struck by the facial features of this woman, and, in particular, their similarity to a friend of his called Mefody Lukianov who had died in 1932. This conjecture stems from analysis of Somov’s letters and diaries as well as from a photograph from the Mikhailov family archive.
We are grateful to Elena Yakovleva, Doctor of Art History, Senior Researcher of the Russian Institute of Art History, St Petersburg for providing this catalogue note.