The Boris Kustodiev House Museum presents a portrait of the artist’s favorite model — his daughter Irina. Kustodiev painted and drew his daughter all his life since the day she was born. According to Irina Kustodieva, her father drew her for the first time when she was only four hours old.
The portrait presents a knee-length image of Irina — a young girl in a fashionable dress of deep blue. Folds of fabric are caught on one side with a large decorative buckle, Irina’s blond curly hair is pushed from under a fashionable hat. She stands in an almost theatrical pose wearing bright-colored lipstick, eyes twinkling from the soft half-shadow. One of Irina’s hands is pressed to her chest, the other holds pages with text — could it be that she is studying for a role? At that time, Irina studied in Leningrad at the Institute of Performing Arts, preparing to become an actress.
Kustodiev was the breadwinner of the family — his children Kirill and Irina were students, and his wife Yulia worked part-time as a typist and took care of him and their children. Irina studied for free, however, it was not because her father was a famous artist, but “because of the chronic illness of her father, a disabled person of the first group”. This was the order of the officials of Sorabis (Trade Union of Art Workers) in response to Kustodiev’s appeal to the admission committee of the Institute.
Although the family lived modestly enough, Irina was still pampered as a child. This is evidenced by her fashionable expensive outfit. Not only did the artist show his ability to convey the character and appearance of the model, he also put all the love he had for his daughter into this portrait. The portrait itself is very simple composition-wise. The complex color of the background testifies to the skill of Boris Kustodiev, as one more stroke of the brush could have made the whole painting overbearing and messy. The contrasting background also helps bring forth the model in the painting, making her noticeably more alive. The magnificent fabric of Irina’s dress, its rich tone, the gentle glow of the skin of her bare shoulder and hands, the eye-catching accessories (hat and buckle) — in this portrait Kustodiev used one of his favorite techniques — painting a dark silhouette against a light background.
“Portrait of Irina Kustodieva,
the Artist’s Daughter” was the last portrait of her that Boris Kustodiev painted. Irina spent a significant part of her life
working at the Leningrad Philharmonia, wrote memoirs about her father, took
part in organizing exhibitions of his works throughout the USSR, and received the permission
to rebury Kustodiev in the Necropolis
of the Masters of Arts of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra in Leningrad.
