Serov

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Serov, Valentin (1865–1911). Russian painter and graphic artist, born in St Petersburg, son of the composer Alexander Serov. He studied privately under Repin and then in 1880–5 at the Academy in St Petersburg, where he became a friend of Vrubel. His work includes landscapes, genre pictures, and historical scenes, as well as book illustrations, but he is best known as a portraitist. In this field he was the greatest Russian painter of his time and a match for any artist in the world. Like Sargent, he was a cosmopolitan figure, used to moving in high society, and he brought to his work something of the same quality of aristocratic authority and poise associated with the American's portraits. Like Sargent, too, he painted with superb technical freedom and finesse, and it was only after his death that an exhibition of his work, including a large number of studies, showed the amount of labour he put into what seemed like the effortless expression of a natural gift. He was just as good with informal portraits as with grand showpieces. His two most famous paintings (both in the Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow) are intimate early works, the breathtakingly beautiful Girl with Peaches (1887) and the almost equally lovely Girl in the Sunshine (1888); later, as his fame grew, he painted many of the leading Russian celebrities of his time, particularly artists, musicians, and writers. Serov was a member of the World of Art group and some of his later work shows a tendency towards flat Art Nouveau stylization. The most remarkable example is a nude, almost monochromatic portrait of the dancer Ida Rubinstein (Russian Museum, St Petersburg), painted in Paris in 1910 (at about the same time as Romaine Brooks's equally striking nude portrayal of this exotic beauty). Serov had a difficult personality (he could be gloomy and rude), but he was greatly admired for the integrity and sincerity of his work; he never let his skill lapse into mere virtuosity. From 1897 to 1909 he taught at the Moscow Institute of Painting, Sculpture, and Architecture, where his pupils included Petrov-Vodkin.

Serov, Valentin (b St Petersburg, 19 Jan. 1865; d Moscow, 5 Dec. 1911). Russian painter and graphic artist, son of the composer Alexander Serov. He studied privately under Repin from an early age and then in 1880–5 at the Academy in St Petersburg, where he became a friend of Vrubel. His work includes landscapes, genre pictures, and historical scenes, as well as book illustrations, but he is best known as a portraitist. In this field he was the greatest Russian painter of his time and a match for any artist in the world. Like Sargent, he was a cosmopolitan figure, used to moving in high society, and he brought to his work something of the same quality of aristocratic authority and poise associated with the American's portraits. Like Sargent, too, he painted with superb technical freedom and finesse, and he was just as good with informal portraits as with grand showpieces. His two most famous paintings (both in the Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow) are intimate early works, the breathtakingly beautiful Girl with Peaches (1887) and the almost equally lovely Girl in the Sunshine (1888); later, as his fame grew, he painted many of the leading Russian celebrities of his time, particularly artists, musicians, and writers. Serov was a member of the World of Art group and some of his later work shows a tendency towards flat Art Nouveau stylization. The most remarkable example is a nude, almost monochromatic portrait of the dancer Ida Rubinstein (Russian Mus., St Petersburg), painted in Paris in 1910. Serov had a difficult personality (he could be gloomy and rude), but he was greatly admired for the integrity and sincerity of his work. See also Abramtsevo Colony.

Serov, Valentin (1865–1911). Russian painter and graphic artist, son of the composer Alexander Serov. He studied privately under Repin from an early age and then in 1880–5 at the Academy in St Petersburg, where he became a friend of Vrubel. His work includes landscapes, genre pictures, and historical scenes, as well as book illustrations, but he is best known as a portraitist. In this field he was the greatest Russian painter of his time and a match for any artist in the world. Like Sargent, he was a cosmopolitan figure, used to moving in high society, and he brought to his work something of the same quality of aristocratic authority and poise associated with the American's portraits. Like Sargent, too, he painted with superb technical freedom and finesse, and he was just as good with informal portraits as with grand showpieces. His two most famous paintings (both in the Tretyakov Gal., Moscow) are intimate early works, the breathtakingly beautiful Girl with Peaches (1887) and the almost equally lovely Girl in the Sunshine (1888); later, as his fame grew, he painted many of the leading Russian celebrities of his time, particularly artists, musicians, and writers. Serov was a member of the World of Art group and some of his later work shows a tendency towards flat Art Nouveau stylization. The most remarkable example is a nude, almost monochromatic portrait of the dancer Ida Rubinstein (Russian Mus., St Petersburg), painted in Paris in 1910. Serov had a difficult personality (he could be gloomy and rude), but he was greatly admired for the integrity and sincerity of his work. See also Abramtsevo colony.

Serov, Yekaterinburg/Russia Nadezhdinsk, Kabakovsk Founded in 1894 and named after Nadezhda Polovtseva, the owner of the iron works here. It was renamed in 1934, for three years only, after Ivan Kabakov (1891–1937), a Communist Party official who was executed during Joseph Stalin's^† purges. In 1937–9 it reverted to its original name and was then once more renamed, this time after Anatoly Serov (1910–39), a military test pilot who played an important role in the Spanish Civil War (1936–9) and who was born near here.

Serov , city (1989 pop. 104,000), E European Russia, in the eastern foothills of the Urals, on the Kakvy River. A metallurgical center, Serov produces cast iron and quality steel and has lignite, iron, bauxite, and gold mines. Founded in 1894 in connection with the building of the Trans-Siberian RR, the city was called Nadezhdinsk until 1939.