H.I.H OLGA ALEXANDROVNA

(Russian, 1882-1960)

FLOWERS ON A WINDOW SILL

Watercolor on Laid Paper

8½ x 13 Inches

Signed Lower Right "Olga"

 Provenance: Formerly in the collection of King Christian X and Queen Alexandrine of Denmark at Sorgenfri Castle;

thence by direct descent to their eldest grand-daughter, H.H. Princess Elizabeth.

 

A charming and period botanical watercolor of pansies and blue daisies, painted in the sitting-room of Grand Duchess Olga's country home at Knudsminde Farm where she lived from 1930-1948.

 

The daughter of Emperor Alexander III and the sister of Tsar Nicholas II, Olga Alexandrovna was an accomplished artist who exhibited with success worldwide. The recipient of numerous prizes and awards, Olga contributed much of the proceeds of her sales to charity and preferred to give her work as gifts, both to close friends and to members of her large, extended family. Her cousin, the late Queen Elizabeth II, began her day with nine of Olga's paintings hanging in her breakfast-room at Sandringham.

 

This delicate painting offers an eloquent insight into the genteel and unhurried life which became Olga's after the fall of the Russian Royal Family. It represents a rare opportunity to acquire a signature work by this accomplished woman artist and important historical figure.