Alexandre Pavlovich BRULLOV (Saint-Pétersbourg 1798-1877).

Portrait of Count Vasily Alexeyevich Perovsky (1795 -1857), circa 1824. Watercolour and graphite on paper, monogrammed AB at TOP right, dedicated in Russian at bottom by an autograph poem probably signed by the famous poet Vasily Andreyevich Zhukovsky (1783-1852), repeating the second stanza of the song "My dear friend" of 1811: "Oh my dear friend, Fate has ordered us to part: Days, months, and years will pass, In vain I'll hold out my heart's hand to you - Nor thy voice, nor thy eyes shall enchant me. But afar off, my soul is in tune with yours; Friendship is subject neither to time nor place; Always, everywhere be my guardian angel, Do not forget me, my friend." A change is made to the original text at the beginning of the sixth verse: the author replaces the word "Love" (??????) with "Friendship" (??????), as this probably refers to the very strong friendship between Vasily Andreyevich Zhukovsky and Vasily Alexeyevich Perovsky. 20.5 x 14.5 cm History: The authorship of this watercolor drawing is given to Alexander Brullov, an eminent draftsman, watercolorist and brother of the famous Karl Pavlovich Brullov (1799-1852), he also embraced a brilliant career as an architect. Here he portrays one of his friends, Adjutant General Vasily Alexeyevich Perovsky (1796-1857), during a trip to Italy. Perovsky stayed in Italy, mainly in Naples and Sorrento, from 1822 to 1824. Vasily Perovsky was a cavalry general who participated in the Patriotic War of 1812 and the Russo-Turkish War of 1828. Appointed adjutant general in 1833, he was also a member of the State Council and was awarded the title of count in 1855. During his Italian stay, Alexander Brullov went to Sorrento following an invitation he received from Vasily Perovsky, when he was an adjutant of Grand Duke Nicholas Pavlovich of Russia (1796-1855). In a letter to his parents, Alexander Brullov describes Vasily Perovsky as "a straightforward and wonderful man who loves a quiet life and the arts" but also as "the most beautiful man on earth". It was most likely during this trip that he made our portrait and gave it to Perovsky, his friend and host. Another full-length watercolour portrait by Alexander Brullov of Vassily Perovsky (Inv. No. 192), painted in 1824 and kept in the Russian Museum in St. Petersburg, bears witness to this (see illustration). It is easy to recognize many similarities between our watercolour and the one kept in the Russian Museum, starting with the attributes of Vasily Perovsky such as the gold prosthesis he wears on his left index finger (he accidentally lost a piece of finger during the retreat of Borodino) and his cigarillo. The striking resemblance between these two works confirms the artist's attribution and the identification of the model. As for the autograph part of the drawing, it could be in the hand of the poet Vasily Andreyevich Zhukovsky (1783-1852) himself. Indeed, this watercolour drawing was probably made in 1824 during Alexander Brullov's stay in Sorrento with Vasily Perovsky. At the same time, Perovsky kept up a correspondence with Zhukovsky, faithful friends, they would never stop writing to each other for more than thirty years. Vassily Joukovsky even went so far as to publish the letters received from Italy from Vassily Perovsky, without his knowledge, and anonymously in his collection "Fleurs du Nord" in 1827. This drawing by Alexander Brullov could therefore have been part of a mailing, as a gift from Perovsky to his friend Zhukovsky, who would then have annotated it himself by modifying the first word of the sixth line as we indicated above. This modification to change the word "Love" to "Friendship" reflects the very strong bond that united the two men throughout their lives.