Loggin Andreevich Choris (1795-1828) Russian lady rare miniature, 1818 (m)

  
One of the last completed in Russia works of the well known Russian artist and explorer, Loggin (Ludwig, Louis) Andreevich Choris. The artist was born in 1795 in Ekaterinoslav (present day Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine) into German family living in Russia. He visited a secondary school in Kharkov and already from his childhood showed a great talent in drawing and interest in natural history and other sciences. Owing to his talents, Choris (as draughtsman) joined the team of Botanist F.

From 1814 to 1815 he studied at the Imperial Academy of Fine Arts in St. From 1815 to 1818 he participated (among others, together with famous German poet and naturalist Adelbert von Chamisso) in around-the-globe sailing voyage on vessel "Rurik" under the command of Russian Army Lieutenant Otto von Kotzebue. During this voyage Choris made countless sketches with scenes from lives of aborigines of Asia, Africa, Polynesia.

During his stay in California (1816) he also painted particularly detailed watercolors with different views of the region. Many of these drawings were published later in "Voyage pittoresque autour du monde", Paris 1822 22 booklets with texts by A. Petersburg, yet next year left for Paris, where he then settled until 1828. In this last year of his life Choris ventured on another journey.

He traveled to America, crossed Antillean archipelago, and on March 19th 1828 arrived in the Mexican town Veracruz. Joined by Englishman Genderson, he decided to travel into the deep of the country. Already after three days both men were ambushed by robbers.

While Genderson was able to free himself and flee, Choris was murdered. Later, Genderson led to the site in the woods where Choris' body was found... The artist was thereafter buried in Plan-del-Rio. Our miniature, dated 1818 (completed by Choris during his last months in Russia), is the only known portrait work of this great explorer. We suppose that it was not a commission, but rather a "farewell" portrait of a young beautiful lady, with whom he shared a personal connection... One of our images shows a clip from Vadim P. Stark's book "Portraits and Faces" published in 1995 in St. As we see, Choris' friend Adelbert von Chamisso spoke praisingly about him as of a "talented portraitist". Our further additional images show several of Choris' drawings from his (aforementioned) around-the-globe journey.

7,0x5,0cm/2,8x2,0in FRAMED: 13,5x11,9cm/5,3x4,7in. Technique: watercolor on organic wafer (octagonal). Signed and dated: Choris 1818. 1795 Ekaterinoslav - 1828 Veracruz, Mexico.

This item is in the category "Art\Paintings". The seller is "boris_wilnitsky_fine_arts" and is located in this country: AT. This item can be shipped worldwide.

• Unit of Sale: Single-Piece Work
• Artist: Loggin Andreevich Choris
• Signed By: Loggin Andreevich Choris
• Size: Small
• Signed: Yes
• Material: watercolor on organic wafer
• Certificate of Authenticity (COA): Yes
• Region of Origin: Europe
• Framing: Framed
• Subject: Fashion, Ladies, Portrait, Women, Empire, Russian, Ukrainian
• Listed By: BORIS WILNITSKY FINE ART
• Type: Painting
• Year of Production: 1818
• Original/Licensed Reproduction: Original
• COA Issued By: BORIS WILNITSKY FINE ARTS
• Item Height: 5.3
• Style: Miniature, Portraiture
• Features: Miniature
• Production Technique: Watercolor Painting
• Country/Region of Manufacture: Russian Federation
• Item Width: 4.7
• Handmade: Yes
• Time Period Produced: 1800-1849