Vladimir Borovikovsky (1757-1825)
Lot 14 PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF PRINCE IVAN OBOLENSKY

Vladimir Borovikovsky (1757-1825)

Portrait of Prince Petr Vasilievich Lopukhin (1753-1827), wearing the star and sash of the Order of St Andrew, the star and cross of the Order of St Vladimir, the Order of Alexander Nevskii, the Order of Malta and a diamond portrait badge

Closed2 June 2014

Price Realised

GBP 2,154,500

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Vladimir Borovikovsky (1757-1825)
Portrait of Prince Petr Vasilievich Lopukhin (1753-1827), wearing the star and sash of the Order of St Andrew, the star and cross of the Order of St Vladimir, the Order of Alexander Nevskii, the Order of Malta and a diamond portrait badge
signed in Cyrillic 'Painted by Borovikov/skii' (lower left)
oil on canvas
31 5/8 x 24 5/8 in. (80.5 x 62.5 cm.)
Painted circa 1801

Prince Nikolai Petrovich Lopukhin-Demidov (1836-1910/1), Korsun estate, Kiev Governorate until at least 1906.
Prince Serge Obolensky (1890-1978) and Ava Alice Muriel Astor (1902-1956), London, circa 1925.
By descent to the present owner.

Specialist note

Petr Vasilievich Lopukhin was a Russian statesman, Privy Councillor and Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Russian Empire from 1816-1827. His standing at court rose significantly when his daughter Anna Gagarina became a favourite of Paul I.
Following the accession of Emperor Alexander I in 1801, Lopukhin became an Member of the Indispensable Council in 1803, Minister of Justice and Head of the Commission for the Formulation of Law; in accordance with the responsibilities of being Procurator-General of the Senate, he oversaw its reorganisation (he established two new departments, as well as temporary departments and committees for the 'Review' of incoming Senate complaints).
Tall and handsome, Lopukhin was always popular with women and remained a gallant figure well into old age. He was married twice and had seven children. His first wife was (1776) Praskovia Ivanovna Levshina (1760-1785), the second (1786) Ekaterina Nikolaevna Shetneva (1763-1839).
In the early 1800s Borovikovsky painted almost all of the influential family of ‘His Serene Highness’ Prince Lopukhin: his eldest daughter (A. P. Gagarina (1801, State Russian Museum, St Petersburg), the prince himself and his two wives.