Bidspirit auction | [Russian Fairy‑Tale Style. Expert Examination].

[Russian Fairy‑Tale Style. Expert Examination]. Bezverkhov, Nikolai Petrovich. “Stepmother”. Russian Empire. 1894. According to the expert conclusion, the work “has antique and collectors’ value and may be of interest to a museum collection.” Expert examination by the Grabar All‑Russian Art Research and Restoration Centre, report No. 101 EK‑121‑26 dated 2 April 2026, minutes of the Expert Council No. 11 dated 26 March 2026. Canvas on stretcher, oil. Signature: the signature, place of creation and date are in the upper right corner: “N. Bezverkhov / SPB. / 1894”. On the reverse of the stretcher there is an old label with the artist’s surname and address, the title of the work and the price: “Bezverkhov, Nikolai Petrovich / Stepmother / 400 r.s./ SPB. Nevsky Pr. 57, apt. 17”, which corresponds to the data of the catalogue of the 4th Exhibition of the Saint Petersburg Society of Artists (1895), where the painting was exhibited under this title. Size: 58.8 × 71.6 cm (stretcher); 72.5 × 86 cm (framed). Condition: very good, close to excellent, with minor signs of age and use; original paint layer with even natural craquelure, without losses; canvas and stretcher structurally sound. The subject is executed in the Russian fairy‑tale tradition, focusing on the image of a strict stepmother and her stepdaughter. The iconography of the figures in the terem interior echoes the imagery of Russian literary fairy tales of the second half of the 19th century, including Pushkin’s “The Tale of the Dead Princess and the Seven Knights”, which gives the scene a recognisable “Pushkin‑like” undertone. Bezverkhov, Nikolai Petrovich (1859–1909) was a painter and an occasional student at the Imperial Academy of Arts (1887–1888). In the 1890s he studied in Paris in the private studio of Fernand Cormon and took part in exhibitions of the Academy of Arts and of the Saint Petersburg Society of Artists. The artist’s works are held in: the Nizhny Novgorod State Historical and Architectural Museum‑Reserve; as well as in other museum and private collections.