Sergei Konstantinov Zarianko (1818-1871),Portrait of Czar Alexander III,oil on oval shape canvas, circa 1855, 78x71 cmThis painting by Sergei Zarianko, a portrait and interior painter who studied at the Imperial Academy of Arts in St Petersburg, demonstrates the artist's faithfulness to realism. According to Zarianko, the aim of art is to be a pure imitation of nature, a portait must be almost undistinguishable from the living model. The precision of lines representative of Alexei Venetsianov's school, his quality of observation and interest for naturalistic representation are seen in this portrait of Tsar Alexander III, Russian Emperor between 1881 and 1894.Rosalind P. Gray,Russian Genre Painting in the Nineteenth century, Oxford University Press, 2000Provenance: According to family tradition, the work has left Russia in the late nineteenth century,by Ignatiev line.By family heritage, the work became the property of the von Boch then Sarasin and has remained in the same family up to now
