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



Wednesday, August 5, 2015

Prince Alexander Konstantinovich Gorchakov, by Nikolai Bogdanov-Belsky, 1904.



I've been unable to find very much on the life of this handsome Prince Gorchakov. Born on 17 September 1875 in Vaud, Switzerland, he was the third son of Prince Konstantin Alexandrovich Gorchakov - Russian ambassador to, variously, Switzerland, Saxony, and Spain - and Princess Maria Mikhailovna Sturdza. In 1904 - the year this portrait was painted - he married Daria Mikhailovna Bibikova (1883-1962), a lady-in-waiting to the Empress Alexandra Feodorovna. Fighting in World War I, he was seriously wounded at the front and died in a St. Petersburg hospital from his injuries on 18 March 1916 at the age of only forty. He was buried in the cemetery of the monastery of St. John of Kronstadt.


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Nikolai Petrovich Bogdanov-Belsky (1868–1945), Russian painter whose work consists mainly of portraits, genre paintings, and landscapes. Born in the village of Shitiki in the Smolensk region, he studied art at the Semyon Rachinsky fine art school, icon-painting at the Troitse-Sergiyeva Lavra in 1883, modern painting at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture from 1884 to 1889, and at the Imperial Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg from 1894 to 1895. He later worked with studios in Paris. Active in St. Petersburg, he was a member of several prominent societies and became pedagogue and academician in 1903; he was an active Member of the Academy of Arts. After 1921, he worked and lived exclusively in Riga, Latvia. He died at the end of World War II, in Berlin.

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Also by Bogdanov-Belsky, and elsewhere labeled a portrait of the prince's wife, family descendants claim it portrays his sister, Elena, Princess Gorchakova, 1903.



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6 comments:

  1. UnknownApril 26, 2017 at 3:39 AM

    The female portrait is of Alexander's sister Elena Konstantinovna Soldatenkova (née princess serenissime Gortchacova (1873-1948). She was married to Vassili Vassilievitch Soldatenkov (1879-1944)

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    1. StephiliusApril 26, 2017 at 8:35 AM

      Thank you for your comment, Unknown. She certainly looks like she could be the Prince's sibling! Just now, doing a hasty search online, the only image I've been able to find that is identified as Elena Konstantinovna Soldatenkova, née Gorchakova - in the photograph the subject is dressed for the famous Boyar Ball of 1903 - doesn't really resemble the woman in the painting above. Still, considering how much the lady here looks like the Prince, I'm pretty much convinced that you are correct; I'll amend the caption. : )

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    2. UnknownApril 27, 2017 at 7:11 AM

      Dear Stephilius, thank you for making the appropriate changes. You are completely right it is not Elena Konstantinovna but her sister Maria Konstantinovna (1871-1924) (she was widowed in 1901 from her first husband Prince Alexis Kudashev. She remarried a few years later Alexander N. Brianchaninov). This portrait may have been made before her second marriage and in tandem with the portrait of one of her two surviving brothers of whom one is Prince A.K. Gortchacow, my great grandfather. Here is a publically available photograph of his wife, Daria Mikhailovna Bibikova (1883-1962) on Pinterest. https://www.pinterest.com/pin/549720698248207638/. The photograph is from that same famous 1903 ball where you found the picture of Elena. It was a year before they were married. Thanks again for the quick update and so sorry for the confusion (more info on http://ru.rodovid.org/wk/%D0%97%D0%B0%D0%BF%D0%B8%D1%81%D1%8C:289410 but it is in Russian).

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    3. StephiliusApril 27, 2017 at 9:05 PM

      Thank you so much for this information, Alexander! It can be so difficult to sift through to the truth when doing research; there is so much misinformation out there. And then how much more difficult when the pertinent information is in a language that I don't really read/speak (Russian). So I especially appreciate it when those who - know - share their knowledge with me, here. I'll amend the caption - again! Once more, thank you for your help. : )

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  2. AntoinedelaTremoilleSeptember 23, 2018 at 5:06 PM

    His son Prince Mikhaïl Aleksandrovich Gortchakov and his wife Countess Olga Orlov Davydov moved after World War II to ARGENTINA, they lived in San Isidro near Buenos Aires until both passed away. They still have family in Buenos Aires and Switzerland

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