After Feodor Rokotov (Russian, 1736-1808), Attributed to Carl Ludwig Christinek (Russian, 1732-1794) Portrait Empress Catherine II "The Great" (after Feodor Rokotov) Oil on canvas 34 x 26 inches (86.4 x 66.0 cm) PROVENANCE: Margaretta "Happy" Rockefeller; Prince and Princess Alexander Romanoff, a gift from the above, 1971; Princess Maria Romanoff. The offered lot, a portrait of Empress Catherine the Great (1729-1796), according to Prince and Princess Romanoff, was a wedding gift from their friend Margaretta "Happy" Rockefeller, wife of Vice President Nelson Rockefeller in 1971. Carl-Ludwig Christinek was a Russian born to German parents within the Empire, and while he initially studied in Germany, he spent his whole life and career working in Russia, painting portraits of the Russian aristocracy. Some of his notable works include a portrait of Empress Catherine's illegitimate son Count Alexis Bobrinskoy, and a portrait of her architect Yuri Felten. Though attributed to Christinek, this portrait of Catherine the Great is taken from Russian artist Feodor Rokotov's three-quarter length portrait of the Empress painted in 1763, and now in the collection of the State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, Russia. Catherine famously commissioned a painting of herself by the artist Roslin and so disliked the rendering of her face, she had it overpainted using a model by Rokotov in its place, thus making Rokotov models the preferred ones for public distribution. The Rokotov model may be seen: D.A. Rovinski, Dictionary of Russian Engraved Portraits, St. Petersburg, 1889, Volume I, p. 698, number 231, and the Detailed Illustrated Catalogue of the Exhibition of Russian Portrait Painting, St. Petersburg, 1902, p. 109 (illus). Estate of Princess Maria Romanoff HID03101062020 © 2024 Heritage Auctions | All Rights Reserved

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