IvAn MakArov painted many exquisite portraits of young ladies and children from aristocratic families. Contemporaries appreciated his works for their pleasant coloring and aesthetic manner of painting. Throughout his life, he created a whole gallery of portraits, among which the portraits of Alexander PUshkin’s daughters and the poet’s widow NatAlia NikolAevna have a special place.

The ‘Portrait of MuravyOva’ from the NovosibIrsk collection also serves as an excellent example of his style. It depicts a young woman in a modest noble attire. The artist painted her on a clear background, emphasizing the absence of interior items and sharp colors. This allowed him to focus the viewer’s attention on the ethereal young face of his model.

Makarov was not interested in the issues of the new 19th-century democratic art. He remained a master of secular portrait, which was characterized by soft lines and subdued colors. The artist often used liquid paint, which made his artworks look as airy as a watercolor painting. At the Academy of Arts, he adopted the aesthetics of classical examples of sculpture and painting. He was also under the influence of his three-year scholarship trip to Italy. He was a brilliant colorist and a sophisticated aesthete.

The “Portrait of Muravyova” also reflected the typical features of the artist’s style. He depicts a straight, calm look of his model. Frequent unfinished strokes create the illusion of airy lightness and softness of the hair. The portrait is in an oval frame, which matches the smooth contours of the model’s figure and dress. It is known that the artist painted female portraits with particular thoroughness and tenderness. They revealed his romantically delighted, almost reverent attitude towards women.

Throughout his life, Ivan Makarov remained one of the most popular portraitists. He portrayed famous architects and musicians, statesmen and nobles. Along with portraits, the artist created quite a few Bible-themed artworks, as well as painted icons.