338 - Russian School,

Russian School, 19th century- Portrait of a Cossack, bust-length; oil on canvas, in oval frame, bears later inscription 'Lev E. Dmitrieff-Kavkazsky, B. 1849' to the central horizontal stretcher bar, 28 x 22 cm. Provenance: Private Collection, UK. Note: The present work bears an inscription to the verso, on the stretcher bar, regarding an old attribution to Lev E. Dimitriev-Kavkazski (1849-1916). Lev Dimitriev was a Russian artist who produced prints, illustrations, drawings, and oil paintings. He was born in the Caucasus region, reason for which he decided to add to his name the word 'Kavkazaki', which means literally "from the Caucasus". He attended the Imperial Academy of Arts in Saint Petersburg, and distinguished himself as an accomplished engraver, often reproducing Rubens's paintings. He graduated from the academy with full honours. Dimitriev-Kavkazski travelled extensively from Russia all the way to Central Asia, and produced a richly illustrated travel journal published in 1894. It was during this tour that he must have encountered Cossacks, such as the one portrayed in the present work, and other inhabitants in ethnic and traditional dress, as the girl depicted in a drawing by Dimitriev-Kavkazski which sold at Bukowskis, Helsinki, on 12 December 2018, lot 174, that offers a stimulating parallel.