L a - b e a u t é - s a u v e r a - l e - m o n d e ~ D o s t o ï e v s k i

L a - b e a u t é - s a u v e r a - l e - m o n d e  ~  D o s t o ï e v s k i



Sunday, April 3, 2016

Russian families - portraits by Feodor Tulov


Vladimir Ivanovich Benckendorff, 1845.
Elizaveta Alexeievna Benckendorff, née Janova, 1845.

Feodor Andreievich Tulov (1792 - 1855), little-known Russian artist, predominantly a portrait painter, he also contributed to the decoration of churches. Born a serf, he later attained his freedom. There is no record of his early life, but after 1810 he is known to have worked for Prince Mikhail Alexandrovich Shakhovsky, producing portraits of his family. And from 1830 he lived and worked at the estate of Alexander Ivanovich von Benckendorff where he portrayed many members of that family as well. To date more than sixty of his works have been identified in various museums and private collections in Russia, Belarus, and the Ukraine.

A child of the Benckendorff family, 1842.
A child of the Benckendorff family, 1842.
Sophia Pavlovna Baranova, née Benckendorff, circa 1850.
Prince Mikhail Alexandrovich Shakhovsky, 1815.
Princess Elisaveta Mikhailevna Shakhovskaya, circa 1820.
Princess Aleksandra Mikhailovna Shakhovskaya, circa 1815.
Princess (unknown) Mikhailovna Shakhovskaya, circa 1815.
Alexander Nikolaievich Muravyov, circa 1820.
Praskovia Mikhailovna Muravyova with her daughter Sophia, 1826.
Unknown, circa 1820s.
Boy in Schoolboy Uniform, 1853.
Girl in White Dress, 1854.
Unknown, nd.
Young Officer, 1841.
Unknown, circa 1820s.
Portrait of a Lady, circa 1820s.



3 comments:

  1. The expressive range is wonderful. Some of these people I would be delighted to get to know, were that possible. Thanks for this!

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  2. Not so sure about my taste for this artist's style and brushwork.
    The von Benckendorff family: no doubt ancestors of Count Paul von Benckendorff, Grand Marshal of the Court and author of "Last days at Tsarskoe Selo", his personal notes and memories, telling of the last sojourn of the Emperor and Empress of Russia at Tsarskoe Selo from March 1 to August 1, 1917.


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    Replies
    1. I enjoy the tension of elegance and crudeness in most of these pictures; he's no great painter, but I think these images have so much humanity in them.

      Yes, the von Benckendorff family has had several notable characters. Of course, Count Paul's brother Alexander was ambassador to the court of St. James from 1900 until right before the Russian Revolution broke out. Alexander's son Constantine also wrote an interesting book, "Half a Life", about his father and about his own experiences in the Russian Imperial Navy, then the Red Navy, before escaping to England in 1924.

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