A Still-life (Tsaritsa Maria Fyodrovna, 1868).
Usually, royalty has its portrait painted, in this case, royalty does the painting! Maria Fyodrovna (1847-1928) was the wife of Tsar Aleksandr Aleksandrovich (1845-94, ruled 1881-94) and the mother of Tsar St Nikolai II (1868-1918, ruled 1894-1917). She died in exile in her native Denmark. I wonder if she ever painted a painter who painted her! THAT would be something to see.
The Miser (Tsaritsa Maria Fyodrovna, 1890)
Christ in the Desert (Ivan Kramskoi, 1872)
This is usually judged the pick of the litter of Kramskoi’s work. Do you agree?
1874
Of course, we have seen a slew of works by Kramskoi (1837-87) lately. He was one of the founders and leading lights of the Peredvizhniki (Wanderers), the first truly Russian national “school of art”. It stressed the depiction of ordinary life and ordinary people engaged in their usual activities. Needless to say, if a portrait commission came their way, it was snatched up, and the resulting works were normally very true-to-life. Kramskoi’s most vibrant works were his touching and dignified paintings of the peasantry. If I were to name his three most powerful works, they are Christ in the Desert (1872), Unconsolable Grief (1884), and A Portrait of a Woman (1883). The last two are found below, the first painting is found above this post (it is considered his masterwork, it deserves to stand alone).
So, here is one of the greats of our Russian art world, little-known, if at all, in the West. I chose this portrait by Yaroshenko as it shows Kramskoi at work in his better “go to meetin’ grubbies” (you know what I mean, Bill!).
Art and Faith 
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