An autographed illustration by the artist Boris Kustodiev

Boris Kustodiev is a Russian artist. He was a talented genre painter, master of psychological portraiture, book illustrator and decorator. He became most famous as a singer of forgotten merchant Russia.

Boris Kustodiev chose portraits as the starting point of his artistic path. However, his talent was manifested not only in creating images of faces. He sought to convey the individuality of each soul through its interaction with the outside world. This is how he created unforgettable portraits, including works depicting Fyodor Chaliapin, Nicholas Roerich and other prominent personalities.

In addition, Kustodiev was known for his passion for gastronomy and the depiction of food in his paintings. He was a gourmet and frequented restaurants, enjoying fine cuisine. One of the most famous paintings "Merchant's Wife at tea" confirms his love of feasts.

Kustodiev himself described his work as follows: "... love of life, joy and cheerfulness, love for his Russian. This has always been the only subject of my paintings."

Georgy Narbut is an outstanding graphic artist, illustrator and designer. Narbut will become famous for his unusual interpretations of the characters from Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland. The artist mainly illustrated fairy-tale works and ABC books, but among his achievements is the design of army uniforms and national banknotes.

Kustodiev's drawing of Narbut was presented in the "Catalog of the exhibition of works by G.I. Narbut" in 1922. Georgy Narbut and Boris Kustodiev were friends and creative colleagues. They met while working in the creative association "World of Art".

The autograph of Boris Kustodiev, dated March 25, 1923, is left on the sheet presented in the Stargift collection