Portrait of Miki Morozova, Serov, 1901 
- Posted by Valentin Aleksandrovich Serov
- Museum: Tretyakov Gallery
- Year: 1901
Overview of the painting :
Mika Morozov – Valentin Aleksandrovich Serov. 1901. Oil on canvas. 62.3×70.6
No task for the artist is more difficult than writing a portrait of a child. Children are mobile, change every second. You need to have iron patience and undeniable talent in order to cope with such a task. Portrait of Miki Morozova is the brilliant work of the great master Serov.
Before us is a child sitting on a high chair. White shirt, golden curls, energetic pose. Such artists wrote amurs and cupids. The attention of the viewer is concentrated on the face of Mika. Wide open, shiny eyes, pink cheeks, half open mouth. The hero is passionate about what is happening around. Apparently, someone nearby is trying to keep the child’s attention, to get immobility from him. Mika is seized with greedy curiosity. Another moment and he will rush towards something new, unusual, interesting.
Serov frankly neglects the surrounding interior, background, details. For him, only this childhood moment of knowledge of the world around him, immediacy, naturalness, openness are important – the very qualities that adults so well hide.