Ivan Kramskoi1837–1887Self-portrait
May one see it?
Unknown: the museum keeps its counsel
Tretyakov Gallery
Moscow, Russia
The owner is known. Whether it is on view today, the museum does not say, and we were not trained to guess.
- Source
- The museum's own collection data
About the painting
Self-Portrait is an oil-on-canvas painting of 1867 by the Russian artist Ivan Kramskoi. Oval in shape, it is a self-evaluation: Kramskoi indicates how he sees his own facial features and his relationship with the world around him. Then 30 years old, the artist renders himself formally dressed, handsome and intelligent-looking. His pose causes him to be gaze down on the viewer, with an appearance that is, according to the Tretyakov Gallery, "severe and demanding".
The painter Ilya Repin wrote of the work, "What eyes! You can’t hide from them. They are small and are sunk deep in their orbits; gray, lit up…What a serious face!"
Particulars
- Accession number
- 645
Sources
- Tretyakov Gallery: the museum's own open data · fetched 3 days ago
- Image: Tretyakov Gallery — Museum open access
Meanwhile, in the life of Ivan Kramskoi
The whole life1863–1868
Teaching at the Drawing School
From 1863 to 1868 Kramskoi taught at the Drawing School of the Society for the Encouragement of Artists.
1865
Painting the Dome of the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour
In 1865 Markov invited Kramskoi to assist in painting the dome of the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow; owing to Markov's illness, Kramskoi executed the entire main dome painting together with Bogdan Wenig and Nikolai Koshelev.
21 August 1867
Daughter born: Sofya Junker-Kramskaya
1869
Title of Academician
In 1869 Kramskoi received the title of academician of the Imperial Academy of Arts.
1869
Meeting Pavel Tretyakov
In 1869 Pavel Tretyakov made Kramskoi's acquaintance and asked him to paint a portrait of the writer Ivan Goncharov for his planned gallery of famous Russians; over time their business relationship grew into friendship.
