This work is done by Valentin Serov (Russian Portrait Painter 1865-1911). Serov was active in Russia during the Silver Age, a time in Russia when industrialist and investors repleaced the old merchant families. Money and consumption created a new rich middle class that demanded not only imported goods to fill their homes with, but portraits of themselves that rivaled those of the nobility. Serov, a student of Repin, became a popular portrait artist. His style was much looser then that of his master. Most of his mature work concentrates on a psychological aspect of the sitter, with less attention paid to clothing and surroundings.
He shared a studio with Konstantin Korovin (1861-1939) and collaborated on a number of projects. When they painted together, there was even a sort of complementarity to their work. Korovin concentrated on landscapes and color; Serov on figures, faces and draftsmanship.
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The portait of Korovin is significant on three levels. First, it is a fine likeness-an easy going bohemian relaxing in his untidy studio. Next, it pays tribute to Korovin's deep attraction to Impressionism in that Serov appropriated from his friend''s practice the luxurious colors, thick layering of paint, broad and free brush strokes, and an off-center composition. The landscape pinned to the studio wall reinerates Korovin's artistic allegiances. And on the conceptual level, Serov has set his subject in a pose that goes beyond a pose: Its thoroughgoing informality is a reconfiguration of the identity of the artist. Serov subverts the conventions observed by the Peredvizhniki in their portraits of colleagues and friends or of themselves-decorum, seriousness and formality, evident dedication to art and their profession. Instead, here is the semirecumbent figure of Korovin in his shirtsleeves, wearing no jacket or tie, not standing at his easel. It is a Silver Age definition of the artist, one that stresses not his professional or public roles but his creative independance and individuality.
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(Excerpt from Valentin Serov - Portraits of Russia's Silver Age)
I find this interesting, because Servo has gone a step beyond capturing the likeness of his friend. He has broken with all sorts of portrait convention and obted to make a statement about his friend.