Lot 95: Portrait of Countess Maria Hilarionovna Worontsov-Dachkova

Nikolai Bekker (b. 1877)
Portrait of Countess Maria Hilarionovna Worontsov-Dachkova
signed in Cyrillic and dated 'N. Bekker/1919' (lower right)
oil on canvas laid down on board
39 x 29¼ in. (99 x 74.3 cm.)

THE PROPERTY OF A LADY
VAT rate of 5% is payable on hammer price and at 17.5% on the buyer's premium.
Maria Hilarionovna Worontsov-Dachkova was the grand-daughter of the last Viceroy of the Caucasus. In 1922 she married Prince Nikita Alexandrovich of Russia.

Nikolai Bekker was not an internationally renowned artist but he enjoyed popularity among the aristocratic society of St Petersburg for his refined portraits (Portrait of Prince F. F. Yusupov, illustrated in Nicholas and Alexandra, London, 1998, p. 30). He continued to pursue his artistic career during the Civil War, during which he painted portraits, like the present lot, and depicted the leaders of the White armies such as the Cossack General Chkuro (Private Collection, London).