Portraits, paintings,illustrations of NAOTMAA

New to me Isabelle! Thanks for posting.

Yelena, I only thought Tatiana looked the best/convincing in that painting. Not so sure about the others.

For what it is worth, I think it is just ugly. Have seen better on the colouring pages here.
 Looks like they are already in front of the firing squad.

For real Robert? That's what you take away from this (or any) OTMA painting? Sheesh, I mean it's obviously your opinion, but, good God!...you sound like me after one of my favourite sports team's loses, lol.

Portrait of Nicholas II (1894-1917) – the last Czar

Anyone knows who was the artist?  :-/

This portrait is featured in the large-format book: Albom istorii Derzhavy Rossiiskoy, published by the Russian Orthodox Youth Committee of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad, New York, 1971, p. 474.

It fills an entire page, but, unfortunately, the artist's name is not given there.

Thank you so much Sarushka! I had hardly seen any of those. Here are two more:

 

Obviously there is more than one such print in existence of these portraits, but most likely that first one was brought to recent popular attention by our monastery.
We have an original lithographic color print of that portrait hanging here on the wall. We received it in 1983 from Fr. Modest, the priest-monk and spiritual father at the Russian Orthodox Convent of the Ascension, on the Mount of Olives, in Jerusalem, where Matushka Tamara (née Princess Tatiana Constantinovna) was Abbess for so many years.

It is featured on our web-site: http://www.thehtm.org/catalog/images/A293.jpg

The colors are much more true in this smaller copy here above at reply No. 71:
http://forum.alexanderpalace.org/index.php?topic=2631.msg233108#msg233108

The version at reply No. 76 is larger, but more garish:
http://forum.alexanderpalace.org/index.php?topic=2631.msg236875#msg236875

Dominic Lieven used it as the front cover illustration for the original British edition of his excellent biography of Tsar Nicholas II.

We happened to give a copy to Mr. Alexander Avdonin in Ekaterinburg, the man who discovered the Imperial family's remains, and he printed it on the back cover of his annual lecture series: "Romanov Readings", No. 2, 1997.
At that time we had no idea who the artist was.

Then V. F. Gladyshev, of Perm, recognized it as the work of a local artist from Perm, and he contacted Mr. Avdonin to inform him of that fact.

For the "Eighth Romanov Readings" Mr. Gladyshev submitted a brief biography of the artist and a discussion of how the painting came to be made.
(See: Vosmye Romanovskie Chteniya, Fond Obretenie, Ekaterinburg, 2004, pp. 85–90.)

The artist's name was A. N. Zelenin, and he painted the portrait in 1913.

It's one of my favorite depictions of the Imperial family, mostly because it looks so natural, and not too studied.

The Empress, dressed quite smartly, has a somewhat pained or frustrated expression on her face — as might be expected from a mother of five lively children. One can almost hear her saying: "What am I supposed to do with these kids? I told them that we had this sitting today for a portrait!"

The Grand Duchesses look like they have just come in from playing tag, or hide and seek — with their hair all mussed up.
(One older, upper class Russian lady we know said that her mother would have killed her if she had shown up like that for a formal picture!)

Tsarevich Alexis' expression shows quite clearly that he knows that he is everyone's little darling.

And Tsar Nicholas II has the placid and serene gaze of an understanding and loving father.

(As I said, I like that picture!)

One more portrait of the Imperial family which you probably have not seen before.



It was done by  Sergei Danilin, a modern Russian portrait painter from St. Petersburg.
http://sergeidanilin.com

Actually, it was through this painting that we came to meet him. We have know him now for over twenty years.
http://sergeidanilin.com/Paintings/Portraits/files/The%20Family.jpg

The amazing thing about this painting is that it was the very first portrait of the Imperial family to be painted and publicly exhibited inside Russia since the Revolution!

Sergei Danilin painted it in 1990, before the fall of Communism and the collapse of the Soviet Union.

The picture is entitled simply “The Family”, and is dedicated to the family of the last Tsar of Russia, Nicholas II. For two years, this painting hung in the “Exhibition of One Painting” in the museum of the town of Pushkin [Tsarskoe Selo]. The work was well known in Russian cultural circles and became the symbol of the World Wide Tsarskoe Selo Romanov Foundation, which was established in Pushkin. As co-founder of this Foundation, Mr. Danilin was invited to the United States in 1991 by the activists among the Russian and Cossack émigrés. Ever since then he has been working several months out of the year in the USA.

At the time that the portrait was painted, there were fears for Mr. Danilin's safety, so a producer in St. Petersburg made a short film concerning the painting and its author — in order to give Sergei more public exposure, and to make it more difficult for the authorities to harass him over it.

Here is a link to that film:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBeLJB6kcGg

Here is a synopsis in English of the sound track of the film:
http://www.saintannas.com/Archived_Docs_HTM/VenetsSoundTrackForAPF.pdf

Unfortunately, in 1994, Mr. Danilin’s studio in St. Petersburg was robbed and set on fire. A great series of paintings and portraits of contemporary figures in Russian culture were lost in the flames, including the portrait of the Imperial family.

Thank you for that amazing post!

Very interesting post! The painting is lovely too. Thanks for posting!

I think that it is one of the nicest portraits of the IF that I've ever seen, and also is very insteresting to know its story; thanks for sharing!!! 

Illustration of Alexei's first communion.

That's interesting Dru, Since Olga was one of Alexei's  Godmothers,  it makes sense she's standing even closer than his  parents.

Can't be his first Communion, as that would have been when he was a baby.

Can't be his first Communion, as that would have been when he was a baby.

I was thinking the same. Georgiy, do you think it could be his first Confession? It's clear to me that Orthodox people give Batptism, Communion & Confirmation all in one day when the children are babies, but i've not fully undertood if they wait that the children are grown up for Confession... since i'm Catholic and we do otherwise, i'ma bit confused.

Sorry, guys, I must have misread it 

Well it's something important . It might be Communion for all , as they all seem lined up to receive it and in the usual order. Looking at it now, I would say the Tsar has had his Communion and is standing back as the others ( in the order of importance ) receive theirs....it could be a depiction of the way the family  took  Communion generally , while  highlighting Alexis

When is the painting from? Seems strange that none of the females have head coverings. It looks like Alexei is having Communion first, followed by the Tsar.