Lot 125
COUNT MIHALY VON ZICHY (HUNGARIAN 1827-1906)
ALEXANDER III AT THE WINTER PALACE BALL/ANICHKOV PALACE, ST. PETERSBUR
Fine Furniture and Works of Art
Auction: 25 January 2017 at 11:00 GMT
Description
G, 1889
signed and dated '89, inscribed with names of attendees verso, mixed media with cardboard seal, unframed
Dimensions
24cm x 32cm (9.5in x 12.25in)
Footnote
Provenance: Christie's London, Icons, Russian Pictures and Works of Art, 27 April 1990, lot 384
The Collection of The Late Jan Bethge Esq.Exhibited: London, 1 Belgrave Square, The Exhibition of Russian Art, 4th June - 13th July 1935
Literature:The Exhibition of Russian Art Catalogue, London 1935, p.150
Note: Illustration of a court ball held in the Arab Hall of the Winter Palace in the Presence of Tsar Alexander III, on 2 February 1889. The Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich and the Tsarevich Nicholas are recognisable. Baron Meiendorf counts among the guests listed on the reverse. The work bears a medallion with the imperial coat of arms.
Mihály Zichy, born in Hungary in 1827, died in Saint Petersburg in 1906, originated from a noble Hungarian family. Moving to Russia in 1847, he rose to become a court artist in 1859 and produced numerous paintings of the life of the imperial court in the periods between 1859 to 1873 and 1880 to 1906. Zichy was admitted to Saint Petersburg's Academy of Art for his works depicting the coronation of Alexander II.