Serov the Non-Portraitist

📙 "The grasp of personality and psychological acumen as well as sheer painterly virtuosity made Serov's portraits great works. Mounting a large display of Serov's paintings without any portraits (except the painting of his children on the shore) is a bold decision (like exhibiting Claude Lorraine without his landscapes). Showing Serov in his late symbolist works, many rustic scenes, and vitriolic political satire on the 1905 revolution gives a sense of his range, but it does not change the basis for his greatness." -- Summary written by John W. Emerich, Bronze Horseman Literary Agency.