Rare original Russian watercolor by Serge Sudeikin(1882-1946), drawn as a humourous illustration dedicated to the friends he was spending time with in Georgia. The poem in the picture was written by Sergei Rafailovich (poet and writer of the "Silver Century") and dedicated to Salomea Andronnikova-Galperina (1888-1982). She was a muse to a lot of poets of her time and had a salon in St. Petersburgh that was frequented by a lot of writers, poets and artists. Rafailovich was in love with her and mentioned her indirectly in the poem a few times. She is depicted in this picture and there is obviously similarity to her image since she had been painted by many artists of her time.She is the third figure to the left. Another female personality in the picture is Sudeikin's second wife Vera Bosset(1889-1982).Later on (1921), she met composer Igor Stravinsky and left Sudeikin. for him. Their affair was a secret until the death of Stravinsky's first wife.They got married in 1940. Sudeikin painted himself in the picture as well ( first figure from the left). Most likely, Rafailovich is depicted there as well. It was the time when they all left St. Peterborough due to revolutionary situation there. All the people in the picture never returned to Russia and ended up in France, England or USA. The original label on the back is from an art gallery in Paris in 1920s-1930s. On the back there is information regarding who is depicted in the picture :Sudeikin and his wife Verochka Stravinsky Salomea Andronnikova- Galperin Melikova and her husband Sergei and Robakidze (though it is spelled Rubakidze, we believe it is Robakidze). He was indeed involved in politics but was a poet and writer, published and famous in his time in Georgia, managed to immigrate to Germany in the 30s., died in poverty in Switzerland. Obviously, the this information was added later since at the time the picture had been done, Verochka was not Stravinsky yet, and Salomea was not Galperin yet. It happened later. The text of the poem is written in old Russian letters that were in use before 1918.The poem itself is not as significant as the picture and the personalities in it.They are unique representatives the Russian culture of the beginning of the 20th century (" Silver Century"). One can write a whole book about each individual. A rare and beautiful work, from a NYC estate. Watercolor: 13.25"x 10.75" in a frame: 17.75"x 15.5".

Good condition overall, no condition problems