Horsewoman is a painting by the Russian artist Karl Bryullov (1799–1852), produced in 1832 and preserved in the State Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow (inventory no. 212). The size of the canvas is 291.5 × 206 cmГосударственная Третьяковская галерея — каталог собрания / Я. В. Брук, Л. И. Иовлева. — М.: СканРус, 2005. — Т. 3: Живопись первой половины XIX века. — P. 48-49. (according to other sources 293 × 209.8 cm).
The painting was commissioned by Countess Yuliya Samoylova in Milan.Калугина Н. А. Карл Брюллов. «Всадница». — М.: Государственная Третьяковская галерея, 2014. — P. 3. — (История одного шедевра). In the same year, 1832, it was exhibited at the Brera Academy of Fine Arts in Milan,Калугина Н. А. Карл Брюллов. «Всадница». — М.: Государственная Третьяковская галерея, 2014. — P. 6. — (История одного шедевра). where it was highly praised by the public and critics. In their reviews, the Italians compared Bryullov to Peter Paul Rubens and Antonis van DyckЛеонтьева Г. К. Карл Брюллов. — М.: Терра, 1997. — P. 206. — (Великие мастера живописи). and wrote that they had not yet seen "an equestrian portrait conceived and executed with such excellence".Прожогин Н. П. Брюлловская всадница и её необычайные приключения (часть 1) // Мир музея. — 1998. — № 1. — P. 33.
For almost forty years, almost nothing was known about the painting, which was part of the collection of Yuliya Samoylova. In 1872 or 1874, shortly before the death of the bankrupt Samoylova, her property was sold in Paris.Калугина Н. А. Карл Брюллов. «Всадница». — М.: Государственная Третьяковская галерея, 2014. — P. 9. — (История одного шедевра). Погодина А. А. К. Брюллов. «Всадница» // Юный художник. — 1982. — № 3. — P. 17. At the auction "Horsewoman" was bought by one of the commissioners. Then it went to the St. Petersburg Society for the Pledge of Movable Property, where it was bought by Pavel Tretyakov in 1893.Государственная Третьяковская галерея — каталог собрания / Я. В. Брук, Л. И. Иовлева. — М.: СканРус, 2005. — Т. 3: Живопись первой половины XIX века. — P. 48.
For a long time it was believed that the painting was of Julia Samoilova herself. Later art historians came to the conclusion that Samoilova's pupil Giovannina was represented as a horsewoman, and the model for the little girl was Amacilia, the daughter of composer Giovanni Pacini and Samoilova's adopted daughter.
Art historian Olga Lyaskovskaya wrote that the creation of "Horsewoman" was "a significant step forward in achieving the new goals set by the artist". According to the art historian Magdalina Rakova, "Horsewoman" is "a typical example of a portrait painting" in which "everything is conceived as an apotheosis of beauty and cheerful youth, as an apotheosis of the serenity of the feeling of life", and all this is contained in two actors: a young horsewoman and a little girl.Лясковская О. А. Карл Брюллов. — М.—Л.: Искусство, 1940. — P.94.
History
Past events, work on the painting and the Milan exhibition After graduating from the Imperial Academy of Arts in 1821 and receiving a large gold medal, Karl Bryullov went abroad in 1822. He was accompanied by his brother, the architect Alexander Bryullov. As scholars of the Imperial Society for the Encouragement of the Arts, the brothers first visited Germany. In 1823 they arrived in Italy and settled in Rome.Ракова М. М. Брюллов — портретист. — М.: Искусство, 1956. — P. 30.Леонтьева Г. К. Картина К. П. Брюллова «Последний день Помпеи». — Л.: Художник РСФСР, 1985. — P. 9.
During his first years in Italy, Karl Bryullov worked on genre paintings of Italian life and created "Italian Morning" (1823), "Italian Afternoon" (1827), and "Girl Gathering Grapes in the Neighborhood of Naples" (1827).Петинова Е. Ф. Русские художники XVIII — начала XX века. — СПб.: Аврора, 2001. — P. 105. Ацаркина Э. Н. Карл Павлович Брюллов. Жизнь и творчество. — М.: Искусство, 1963. — P. 51-56. In 1825–1828, he worked on a copy of the Raphael's "School of Athens" commissioned by the Russian Embassy in Rome.Лясковская О. А. Карл Брюллов. — М.—Л.: Искусство, 1940. — P. 204. In 1827, Karl Bryullov visited the excavations of Pompeii,Леонтьева Г. К. Картина К. П. Брюллова «Последний день Помпеи». — Л.: Художник РСФСР, 1985. — P. 72.Лясковская О. А. Карл Брюллов. — М.—Л.: Искусство, 1940. — P. 204. where he decided to create a painting dedicated to the death of this city.К. П. Брюллов в письмах, документах и воспоминаниях современников / Н. Г. Машковцев. — М.: Издательство Академии художеств СССР, 1961. — P. 319.Железнов М. И. Заметка о К. П. Брюллове // Живописное обозрение. — 1898. — № 27—33. — P. 544. Since 1827 he worked on sketches, and in 1830 he began the final version of a large multi-figure canvas "The Last Day of Pompeii", work on which continued until 1833.Ацаркина Э. Н. Карл Павлович Брюллов. Жизнь и творчество. — М.: Искусство, 1963. — P. 536. — (Русские художники. Монографии).
In 1827 Bryullov met the Countess Yuliya Samoylova in Rome. It happened either in the art salon of Princess Zinaida Volkonskaya or in the house of the Russian envoy Grigory Gagarin.Буткова О. В. Юлия Самойлова. Муза Карла Брюллова. — М.: РИПОЛ классик, 2017. — P. 224. — (AmorFati). Later, Samoylova and Bryullov were connected by a long-lasting close friendship; according to Grand Duke Nicholas Mikhailovich of Russia, "the famous K. Bryullov had feelings for her stronger than friendship: he endlessly painted her portraits and repeated her image in his paintings".Буткова О. В. Юлия Самойлова. Муза Карла Брюллова. — М.: РИПОЛ классик, 2017. — P. 224. — (AmorFati). The painting "Horsewoman" was commissioned by Samoylova: Bryullov painted it in Milan in 1832, at the same time when he was still working on "The Last Day of Pompeii". Apparently, the artist created "Horsewoman" in the villa which belonged to Yuliya Samoylova – historians and journalists Ivan Bocharov and Yuliya Glushakova, who managed to visit this house, reported that Bryullov depicted on his painting "the corner of that very building".Бочаров И. Н., Глушакова Ю. П. Кипренский. — М.: Молодая гвардия, 1990. — P. 365. — (Жизнь замечательных людей). According to them, "the horsewoman is depicted at the portal of an ancient palace-villa on the outskirts of Milan, now belonging to the descendants of Count J. P. Litta".Бочаров И. Н., Глушакова Ю. П. Карл Брюллов. Итальянские находки. — М.: Знание, 1984. — P. 71. Samoylova's house, the furnishings of which stood out with incredible luxury, was located on the "patrician mansions built up" street Borgonuovo.Прожогин Н. П. Русская графиня в Милане // Музыкальная жизнь. — 1998. — № 2. — P. 36—39.
In the same year, 1832, "Horsewoman" was exhibited at the Brera Academy of Fine Arts. The painting aroused great interest, there were many reactions, collected and translated by the artist Mikhail Zheleznov, Bryullov's student and his first biographer. In their reviews the Italians compared the author of "Horsewoman" with Peter Paul Rubens and Antonis van Dyck. The poet Felice Romani wrote: "What we certainly admire in this work, which is really new to us in terms of genre and subject, is the freedom, courage and ease in its execution". A detailed review of the painting was also given in the article "Fine Arts in Milan in 1832" (Italian: Le belle arti in Milano nell anno 1832), published in the September 1832 issue of the magazine "Nuovo Ricoglitore". The article's authors, writer-journalists Defendente Sacchi and Giuseppe Sacchi, claimed they had never seen "such an excellently conceived and executed equestrian portrait". Noting the merits of Bryullov's painting, they wrote: "The horse <...> beautifully drawn and staged, <...> moves, hot, snorts, roars. The girl riding it is a flying angel. The artist has overcome all difficulties like a true master: his brush glides freely, smoothly, without hesitation, without tension; he knows how to soften or intensify the light with the skill and understanding of a great artist who distributes it. This portrait shows him to be a promising painter and, above all, a painter marked by genius".
Next events
After that, the painting was in the collection of Yuliya Samoylova. It probably decorated the interior of her Milan villa, according to some contemporaries, especially the poet Vasily Zhukovsky, who visited the place in 1838.Бочаров И. Н., Глушакова Ю. П. Карл Брюллов и театр Ла Скала. Из итальянских изысканий // Наука и жизнь. — 1981. — № 5. — P. 123.Бочаров И. Н., Глушакова Ю. П. Карл Брюллов. Итальянские находки. — М.: Знание, 1984. — P. 72.Бочаров И. Н., Глушакова Ю. П. Итальянская Пушкиниана. — М.: Современник, 1991. — P. 444.Воронихина Л. Н., Михайлова Т. М. Русская живопись XIX века. — М.: Русский язык, 1990. — P. 319. For several decades, nothing was known about the painting. The next mention of the painting dates back to the first half of the 1870s. Her property was sold out at an auction which took place in Paris shortly before the death of the ruined Samoylova. Some sources say the auction occurred in 1872, others in 1874. In a letter from Paris dated 6 (18) July 1874, the artist Ilya Repin wrote to Pavel Tretyakov: "Bogolyubov asked me to inform you that some Countess Samoylova has some things by K.P. Bryullov for sale, if you need them".Репин И. Е. Переписка с П. М. Третьяковым, 1873—1898 / М. Н. Григорьева, А. Н. Щекотова. — М.—Л.: Искусство, 1946. — P. 226. Samoylova was the owner of the painting until 1873, according to the catalog of the Tretyakov Gallery.
At the auction, "Horsewoman" was bought by the commissioner J.-F. Duloup, who bought two works: the Bryullov's "Horsewoman" and another painting by Vladimir Borovikovsky.Безрукова Д. Я. Третьяков и история создания его галереи. — М.: Просвещение, 1970. — P. 144.Грязнов А. И. Почётный гражданин Москвы. Страницы жизни Павла Михайловича Третьякова. — М.: Московский рабочий, 1982. — P. 189. Apparently, it was Jules-Philippe (Julius Filippovich) Duloup who was listed as a commissioner of the Imperial Academy of Arts in Paris (in 1872 he received the title of honorary free member of the Imperial Academy of Arts). It was rumored that Duloup acquired the paintings for Pavel Tretyakov; some sources quote a letter Tretyakov received from an unknown person, which reads "The other day I came from Paris. Leaving, was at the auction of Countess Samoilova, where Duloup bought as if for you two paintings: Briullov for 4050 francs and Borovikovsky for 3400 francs. I am telling you this as a good man you are, because I know Duloup as someone too commercial".Безрукова Д. Я. Третьяков и история создания его галереи. — М.: Просвещение, 1970. — P. 144
Nevertheless, "Horsewoman" did not come to Tretyakov immediately. According to some sources, the painting stood unnoticed in the building of the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts for several years in the 1880s,Безрукова Д. Я. Третьяков и история создания его галереи. — М.: Просвещение, 1970. — P. 144. and only in 1893 was it acquired by Tretyakov through the St. Petersburg Society for Mortgaging Movable Property. On 27 February 1893, the Art Department of the Society gave Tretyakov a receipt confirming that the painting "The Horsewoman" had been sold to him for 2000 rubles and that they had received the full amount. The inventory of works of art of the City Gallery of Pavel and Sergei Tretyakov was published in the same year, 1893. The art critic Vladimir Stasov, having seen the title "Horsewoman" in this inventory, asked Pavel Mikhailovich to remind him what this painting was. Tretyakov replied: "You know it very well. It was in the Academy for several years. Later Mr. Duloup sold it together with another painting from Paris and, I thinks, it was bought by Ginzburg. An excellent horse, and in general such an interesting thing!"