Bidspirit auction | Solomko Sergey Sergeevich ”In the

Solomko Sergey Sergeevich ”In the Prince's Garden”. An illustration of Georgian fairy tales. 1920s. Gray paper, watercolor, whitewash. 25x15 cm. The work comes from the collection of Georgian Princess Nina Mdivani, who commissioned these illustrations from S.S. Solomko. Expert opinion of Silaev V.S. - Sergey Sergeyevich Solomko was born in Saint Petersburg into the family of a general. He studied at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture (1883–1887) and at the Imperial Academy of Arts in Saint Petersburg (1887–1888). He was a virtuoso watercolorist, creating historical and allegorical compositions, scenes from boyar life, and illustrations for Russian folk tales.   He worked for many periodicals, including ”Mir Iskusstva”, ”Zolotoe Runo”, ”Niva”, ”Shut”, and others, and illustrated works by Alexander Pushkin, Mikhail Lermontov, and Nikolai Gogol. A number of postcards were published based on his drawings. Solomko also collaborated with the Imperial Porcelain Factory and created miniatures for the jewelry firm of Carl Fabergé.   In 1914, his watercolor ”The Cuirassier” was acquired by Empress Alexandra Feodorovna. He was a member of the Society of Russian Artists and the St. Petersburg Society of Artists. From 1910 he lived permanently in Paris, where he enjoyed great popularity. He produced illustrations for several Parisian publishers and created several series of postcards on themes of old Russia for the Lapin publishing house.   In 1921, he took part in the exhibition *Artists of the Imperial Academy of Arts of Petrograd*. He was a member of the Society for Mutual Aid and Charity of Russian Artists in Paris. He was buried at the Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois Russian Cemetery.