SEA CLOUD

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SAINT AND WOMAN

Cat no.: 52.37
Artist: Mikhail Vasilievich Nesterov
Date: 1897

Mikhail Nesterov is perhaps best known for his efforts to revive religious painting in late nineteenth-century Russia. A deeply religious man, he was unconcerned with the sorts of history or genre painting practiced by academic painters. Nesterov completed this drawing in the 1890s, a decade in which he created such influential works as The Vision of the Boy Bartholomew (Videnie otroku Varfolomeiu; 1889-1890, Moscow, Tretyakov Gallery) and In the Hills (Na gorakh; 1896, Kiev, Museum of Russian Art). Compositional elements of this work, which may have been created as a study for a similar painting, are reminiscent of these well-known Nesterov paintings.

SAINT AND WOMAN

Cat no.: 52.37
Artist: Mikhail Vasilievich Nesterov
Date: 1897

SAINT AND WOMAN

Cat no.: 52.37
Artist: Mikhail Vasilievich Nesterov
Date: 1897

ÉTUI

Cat no.: 15.136
Artist: Unknown
Date: 1861-1898

MARQUIS CESARE ALFIERI DI SOSTEGNO FROM THE MIDDLETON WATERCOLOR ALBUM

Cat no.: 52.39.19
Artist
Date: 1824-1826

Born in 1799 in Turin, Italy, Marquis Cesare Alfieri di Sostegno (1799-1869) was the son of Piedmontese diplomat and politician Carlo Emanuele Alfieri di Sostegno. His youth was influenced by his father’s diplomatic career—at age seventeen Cesare joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and later became attached to the Sardinian embassy in Paris. In 1818 he was assigned to embassies in The Hague and Berlin. Cesare then partook in the Congresses of Aachen (1818), Troppau (1820), and Ljubljana (1821). These experiences culminated in his appointment as Ambassador to St. Petersburg in 1824. A letter written by Maria Middleton in 1840 suggests that Cesare and her sister Eleanor became romantically attached while in St. Petersburg. He nevertheless returned to Turin in 1826 to marry Countess Luisa Irene Costa della Trinità and serve as First Squire to Charles Albert, Prince of Carignano. Charles Albert appointed Cesare to his newly formed Council of State in 1836 and the Agrarian Association of Turin in 1842. Cesare was integral to the founding the Ministry of Public Instruction in 1847 as well as the establishment of the Statuto Albertino, Italy’s first constitution, in early 1848. Between August and October 1848 Cesare acted as Prime Minister of Sardinia. He then held the position of President of the Senate of Sardinia from 1855 to 1860. Cesare died in Florence in 1869.

EKATERINA PAVLOVNA BAKUNINA FROM THE MIDDLETON WATERCOLOR ALBUM

Cat no.: 52.39.37
Artist: Petr Fedorovich Sokolov
Date: 1828-1834

As a child, Ekaterina Pavlovna Bakunina (1795-1869) traveled a great deal with her parents, diplomat Pavel Petrovich Bakunin (1766-1805) and Ekaterina Alexandrovna Sablukova (1777-1846); first to Germany, then Switzerland, and finally, England. In 1804, the family returned to Russia. After the death of her father, Ekaterina and her family moved in with their Sablukov relatives. During the 1810s, Ekaterina’s brother Alexander attended the famous Tsarskoe Selo Lyceum, where Alexander Pushkin was also a student. This is how Ekaterina met Pushkin and became one of his first loves. In 1817, Ekaterina became a lady-in-waiting to Empress Elisabeth Alexeevna. She was part of her close suite. The Middletons, especially the young daughters, were part of the Sablukov and Bakunin families’ circles and attended many events hosted by them. Ekaterina became friends with the poet Vasily Zhukovsky (1783-1852) and took art lessons from the artist Alexander Briullov. She became a talented painter and copied many works, especially portraits. The Middleton sisters sat for her, among others. Ekaterina was portrayed by famous Russian painters such as Orest Kiprensky and Petr Sokolov, including in a drawing from 1816 and a work dated 1828. The latter, now in the State Literature Museum in St. Petersburg, served as a model for the Middleton Album portrait. Sokolov portrayed her again in the early 1830s, probably in 1834, when she married Alexander Alexandrovich Poltaratsky (1792-1855).

COUNTESS MARIE-CHARLOTTE-ALBERTINE DE LA FERRONNAYS, NÉE DU BOUCHET DE SOURCHES DE MONTSOREAU, FROM THE MIDDLETON WATERCOLOR ALBUM

Cat no.: 52.39.4
Artist: Unknown
Date: 1825-1827

Countess Marie-Charlotte-Albertine de la Ferronnays, née du Bouchet de Sourches de Montsoreau (1782-1848), was born into one of France’s most illustrious aristocratic families. Her father, the Count de Montsoreau, was a high-ranking army officer and her mother, governess to the children of the Duc de Berry. Marie and her sister therefore spent their childhood surrounded by the luxuries and privileges of the French court. The events of the French Revolution caused Marie and her family to immigrate to England. She married Count Pierre Louis Auguste de la Ferronnays, also of noble blood, in 1802 and gave birth to eleven children, including daughter Pauline, who is also featured in the Middleton Album (52.39.5).. A dispute with the Duc de Berry after their return to France led to her husband’s appointment as Minister of Denmark in 1817 and Ambassador to Russia in 1819. Marie became a well-regarded hostess in the Russian capital—according to Lady Anne Disbrowe, she helped “enliven the dullness of Petersburg and the diplomatic meetings.” Eleanor Middleton’s diary likewise records the many soirees, dinners, and dances her family attended at the de la Ferronnays’ home. The Count’s promotion to French Minister of Foreign Affairs and Marie’s poor health caused them to resettle in Paris in 1827. They moved to Italy a year later and remained there until the Count’s death in 1842. Marie lived with Pauline and her husband in Baden, Germany until her own death in 1848.

COUNT LUDWIG VON LEBZELTERN FROM THE MIDDLETON WATERCOLOR ALBUM

Cat no.: 52.39.21
Artist
Date: 1822-1826

Born in Lisbon to Baron Adam von Lebzeltern, the Austrian chargé d’affaires at the Portuguese royal court, Count Ludwig von Lebzeltern (1774-1854) was groomed for diplomatic service from an early age. He initially worked at the Austrian embassy in the capital before serving as secretary to the ambassador in Madrid in 1798. Shortly thereafter he was transferred to Rome, where he remained for five years. In 1809 Ludwig became acquainted with the politician and statesman, Klemens von Metternich. Metternich not only assigned him special missions in Italy and Switzerland, but also charged him with maintaining relations with Russia, a role which grew in importance after Napoleon I’s defeat. Undoubtedly due to his diplomatic acumen, he was designated Minister to St. Petersburg in 1816. Ludwig moved easily through St. Petersburg society, befriending foreigners like the Middletons as well as Russia’s native elite. In 1823 he married Zinaida de Laval, a Russian heiress who also appears—along with their child—in the Middleton Album (52.39.22). It was in fact his connection to Decembrist leader Prince Sergei Troubetzkoy (his brother-in-law) that led to his recall in 1826. After Ludwig’s departure from Russia, he was named Ambassador to Naples. He held this position until his retirement in 1844. Ludwig died in that city in 1854.

COUNT PIERRE LOUIS AUGUSTE DE LA FERRONNAYS FROM THE MIDDLETON WATERCOLOR ALBUM

Cat no.: 52.39.3
Artist
Date: 1825-1827

The son of Count Eugène de La Ferronnays of Brittany, Pierre Louis Auguste de la Ferronnays (1777-1842) belonged to one of the region’s most eminent families. He and his family lived in France until the onset of the French Revolution compelled them to immigrate to Switzerland. Pierre joined the Army of Condé, a field army of French émigrés, before serving as an aide-de-camp to the Duc de Berry, the younger brother of Louis XVI, in England. With the restoration of the monarchy in 1814, Pierre, his wife Marie, and their children were able to return to France. A disagreement with the Duc de Berry meant that this homecoming was short lived—Pierre was appointed Minister to Denmark in 1817 and Ambassador to Russia in 1819. He remained in the latter position for eight years, during which time he become renowned for his honesty and integrity. Pierre was held in such esteem that Nicholas I presented him with the Russian Order of St. Andrew upon his ascension to the throne in 1825. In 1827 Pierre was recalled to Paris to assume the role of Minister of Foreign Affairs. Serious illness led to his resignation in 1829 and relocation to Italy the following year. While abroad Pierre was nominated Ambassador to Rome. He retired from public affairs shortly thereafter, dying in Rome in 1842.

SEA CLOUD

Made by: Montague J Dawson

On view in: First Floor Library

About this object

This represents Mrs. Post's yacht "The Sea Cloud" in full sail proceeding to the left, seen in a full side view. The sea is calm, the sky a clear blue with a few small white clouds up high. The sea is about half the picture, and has several white caps. The yacht tips slightly towards the viewer, giving a detailed look at the deck.

Category:: paintings
Object name:: SEA CLOUD
Made from:: Oil on canvas
Made in:: England
Date made:: ca. 1930-ca. 1960
Size:: 61 x 91.4 cm (24 x 36 in.)

Detailed information for this item

Catalog number:: 51.39
Class:: PAINTING
Signature marks:: SIGNATURE; LABEL lower left, MONTAGUE DAWSON; on back: Prepared by C. Roberson and Co. London
Credit line:: Bequest of Marjorie Merriweather Post, 1973

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SEA CLOUD

SEA CLOUD

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