The young Valentin Serov’s painting caused a sensation among artists and became the harbinger of Impressionism in Russia. The lyrical mood of the portrait reflects a warm relationship between the artist and his circle of those years. Vera Mamontova (1875-1907), the painting’s subject, was the daughter of Savva Mamontov, a big industrialist and owner of the Moscow-Yaroslavl Railway. He was also a collector, patron of arts, and founder of the Abramtsevo Art Circle and the Russian Private Opera.From 1885, Valentin Serov stayed for long spells at the Mamontov estate in Abramtsevo; he sketched and did oil paintings, took part in home performances and entertainments, and was treated as a family member. Embarking on the portrait in mid-August 1887, he finished it over a month later. The artist sought "that special freshness that you always feel in nature and do not see in paintings”.

The composition is based on the harmonious proportions of the parts and the balanced lines of internal movement. The girl's stable figure contrasts the "running away" diagonal of the table which draws the eye beyond the ajar door to the neighbouring sitting room. Scattered light pours through the window behind the girl's back, creating a feeling that the space is filled with warm air. The colour of Vera’s dark thick hair, sun-tanned skin, dark brown eyes, and the polka-dot black bow on her blouse contrast with the shades of pink and white that dominate the colour scheme of the painting. The subtle masterful treatment of her face contrasts with the dashing generalised execution of the background details, the girl’s fingers, and the still life in the foreground. The peaches grown in the Abramtsevo greenhouse and the maple leaves on the table remind us of the passing summer. There are no random details in the canvas - each of them speaks of the Mamontovs’ hospitable house. The white earthenware dish with a cobalt bird and flower pattern, presumably painted by Elena Polenova, conveys the Mamontovs' passion for applied art. The Grenadier-"cracker” wooden figurine bought at a fair in Sergiev Posad and painted by Valentin Serov is an allusion to Hoffmann’s fairytale. The antique mahogany chairs in the 1840s style are a reminder of the Aksakovs, the previous owners of the manor. The rhythmically harmonious composition, balanced dark and light tones, and congruous painting manner are subordinate to creating an image of youth charming in its openness.

“The Girl with Peaches” was largely predetermined by the development of plein-air portraiture in Vasily Polenov’s and Ilya Repin’s oeuvres in the 1880s. The portrait won first prize at the competition of the Moscow Society of Art Lovers (1888). It summed up the artist’s studies at the Imperial Academy of Arts and at the same time marked his striving to vivify the artistic language of the entire generation of painters of the turn of the 20th century.

Provenance:

1929 Acquired from A.S. Mamontova.