BONNAT, Léon-Joseph-Florentin
(b. 1833, Bayonne, d.1922, Monchy-Saint-Éloi)

Portrait of Prince Viacheslav Tenishev

1896
Oil on canvas, 120 x 92 cm
The Hermitage, St. Petersburg

By the 1870s, he became well-known as a portraitist often sought after by the establishment in both Europe and America. His portraits emphasized the sitter's dignity, and cultivated the importance of the individual.

Prince Viacheslav Tenishev was a major Russian industrialist. He was active in the fields of ethnography and archeology, and contributed significantly to Russian culture. His estate of Talashino became a centre of the Russian Modern style. Bonnat's work occupied a place of honour in the St. Petersburg school founded by the prince.




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