Portrait of Savva Mamontov Mikhail Vrubel (1856-1910)

Description of Mikhail Vrubel’s painting "Portrait of S. I. Mamontov".

Savva Ivanovich Mamontov (1841 - 1918) was one of the richest men in the Russian Empire, a major railroad magnate and philanthropist. He was widely known to his contemporaries for his activity aimed at support and development of art. In 1870 Mamontov bought Abramtsevo estate situated near Moscow and Yaroslavl in the environs of Sergiev Posad and invited the most prominent painters to live and work there: the Abramtsevo group formed around their patron and philanthropist included the painters V. Polenov, I. Repin, V. Kuznetsov, V. Filippov, V. Stepanovich, V. Stepanovich, V. Stepanovich and others. Polenov, I. Repin, I. Levitan, M. Vrubel, the Vasnetsov brothers and many other prominent artists.

Many different portraits of Savva Mamontov painted by different painters survived to our time; the most precious is the portrait made by Mikhail Vrubel in 1897. The artist’s acquaintance with Mamontov occurred in Moscow, where Vrubel was a passer-by; from then on he became a permanent face in Abramtsevo, enjoying great support from his benefactor. Admiring the breadth of nature and talent of Savva Ivanovich, Vrubel decided to create a large portrait of Mamontov.

The picture depicts Savva sitting in his office. The portrait is imbued with expression; it seems that Savva Ivanovich is crammed into a limited world, he wants space, like the Old Russian hero from the byliny. In his eyes one can sense business acumen, regal grandeur, austerity and scope. The setting of Mamontov’s study is portrayed extremely authentically, down to the smallest detail.