Boris Mikhailovich Kustodiev (1878-1927)

The dedication on the reverse of this lot is addressed to Renée Ivanovna Notgaft, whose portrait was painted by Kustodiev in 1909 at the request of her husband Feodor Feodorovich Notgaft. An avid collector, Feodor Notgaft was a close friend of Kustodiev and the last secretary of Mir iskusstvo, the World of Art group. In 1918 Notgaft also commissioned Kustodiev to paint his portrait, adding to a personal collection of paintings which at one stage numbered more than 4,000.