Elizaveta Alexeevna Krasilshikova

Elizaveta Alexeevna Krasilshikova (1906), executed in pastel and held at the Kiev National Picture Gallery, depicts a member of the prominent Krasilshikov family — textile manufacturers from the Kostroma region who were among the major industrial dynasties of late Tsarist Russia. The Krasilshikovs owned significant linen manufacturing operations and were typical of the nouveaux riches merchant class that became important patrons of Russian art in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Serov's use of pastel for this commission is notable: while he worked primarily in oil and often in pencil, pastel allowed a softness of texture and a particular quality of light well suited to female portraiture. His pastel technique was influenced by both French Impressionist practice (especially the pastels of Degas) and the Russian tradition of large-scale pastel portraiture. The Kiev National Picture Gallery, the principal fine art museum in Ukraine, holds a significant collection of Russian and Ukrainian art that was assembled and expanded through the Soviet period.

Pastel on paper with the distinctive chalky, matte surface of the medium. Serov's pastel technique likely employs layered strokes in the modeling of the face, with looser, more directional marks in the hair and dress. The medium's inherent softness is appropriate to the gentle indoor light of a domestic portrait. Color relationships in pastel differ from oil — the white of the paper support can be exploited as a light source.