Girl 

Konstantin Makovsky painted this oil on canvas portrait of a girl, sometime in the late 19th century. Makovsky was part of a wave of Russian artists who aimed to create a specifically Russian art, distinct from European traditions. Like many of his contemporaries, he was interested in the lives of ordinary people, but also in representing Russian history. Looking closely at the girl’s clothing, we see this is not a peasant child, but one from a well-to-do family. The sash and the lace-trimmed dress suggest the trappings of the Russian middle-class. The girl’s wide-eyed gaze and the artist's soft brushstrokes draw us in. To understand Makovsky’s work better, we can turn to historical archives, exhibition reviews, and the biographies of collectors to understand the place of portraits like this one in the Russian art world. This helps us consider how artworks gain meaning as part of a wider social and institutional context.