Valentin Serov: portraits of Russia's silver age

Abstract

Elizabeth Kridl Valkenier. Valentin Serov: Portraits of Russia's Silver Age. Studies in Russian Literature and Theory. Studies of the Harriman Institute. Evanston: Northwestern University Press, 2001. xvi, 277 pp. Plates. Figures. Chronology. Notes. Works Cited. $35.00, paper.From the very outset, Elizabeth Kridl Valkenier states that she is not going to write the biography of Valentin Serov because his life was uneventful. No vie boheme, no sojourns to Tahiti, no striking eccentricities or sad breakdowns. Merely a highly gifted artist, hardworking, professionally sought after, laconic and undemonstrative, respected for his firm and impeccable integrity (p. xiii). As an avenue into life history, Valkenier concentrates on the artist's portraits (to the exclusion of his other bodies of work). These portraits act as a point of reference for Serov, the people he painted, and for Russia's Silver Age. Unfortunately, Valkenier does not address all of portraits so that the reader is left with a limited biography and an incomplete discussion of the stated subject. Although what the book provides for the reader is quite good, there is a feeling that a chapter is missing.The first chapter tells of the artist's childhood. In chapter two, participation in the Mamontov circle is discussed along with the cultural significance of Abramtsevo for the Silver Age. The following chapter is related to Diaghilev and the Miriskusniki. Chapter four examines portraits of the new wealthy Russian capitalists and how the emergence of this class shifted Russia's paradigm of patronage. This leads into a discussion of Imperial portraits. Chapter six examines portraits of women and the emerging sexuality of Silver Age society. The final chapter tells of reaction to Postimpressionism and how he had begun to make a significant evolution in his art practice in response to modernist influences when he died of a stroke in 1911.Valkenier's point is that Serov and his portraits embody a bridge between Russian Realism and Modernism. He also represents a third dimension of the Silver Age-a time that is often characterized as a state of decadent decline or nascent revolt. Instead, Serov's work and career demonstrate that it was also a period of incremental social change and creative renovation integral to the processes of onward movement (p. 211). Valentin Serov is an intelligent approach to discussing not only a painter and his works, but how a period impinged upon and was transformed by an artist. …