Ida Rubenstein

Valentin Serov ’s portrait of Ida Rubinstein is one of the finest examples of Russian Art Nouveau painting. The stylistics are dictated by the dancer’s physical appearance and the nature of her art, conjuring up images of oriental history. Ida Rubinstein (1880–1960) was famous in Paris for her performances of the roles of Zobeide in Scheherazade and Cleopatra in Cleopatre. Both ballets were choreographed by Mikhail Fokine for Sergei Diaghilev’s first two Saisons Russes in 1909 and 1910. Valentin Serov painted this portrait in Paris in summer 1910.