Georg Emanuel Opitz (1775-1841)

Born in Prague in 1775, Georg Opitz was already an established portraitist in Vienna when he travelled to Paris where he resided during the Allied occupation of 1814. During this period, Opitz painted an extraordinary group of watercolours depicting Cossacks and the Russian army discovering the Parisian way of life (see V. M. Bezotosnii and E. I. Itkina, Les Cosaques à Paris, Moscow, 2007).

Although Opitz never visited Russia in person, his close observation of Russian officers and Cossacks abroad is reflected by the accurate depictions of the costumes and uniforms in the present group of watercolours.