Boris Kustodiev, The Beauty (1915) Painting Poster

Please note, we also sell a framed version of this poster here on RUS & SOV. About the Painting The Beauty (Russian: Красавица) is a 1920 painting by Boris Kustodiev (Russian: Борис Михайлович Кустодиев). When Kustodiev's Beauty first appeared at exhibitions in 1915, other artists were enraged that crowds gathered in front of it instead of their own paintings. Permeated with an almost shameless sensuality, Kustodiev later repeated the figure of Beauty in three similar works, two of which he gave to his friends, Maxim Gorky and Feodor Chaliapin. The model for this canvas was the then-21 years old, Moscow Art Theater actress, Faina Vasilyevna Shevchenko - the future People's Artist of the USSR and winner of two Stalin Prizes. In Beauty, Kustodiev approaches the magnificent forms of Shevchenko delicately, with good humor. She herself is not at all embarrassed, but instead calmly, and with some curiosity, watches the viewer, pleased with the impression she makes. Her pose is chaste. Wh