Double Portrait of Feodor Chaliapin, 1929

Boris Chaliapin, son of the legendary opera singer Feodor Chaliapin, was brought up in a creative atmosphere. The Chaliapin home on Novinsky Boulevard in Moscow was visited by Valentin Serov, Konstantin Korovin, Ilya Repin, the Vasnetsov brothers, Alexander Golovin and other artists. The father approved of his son’s interest in drawing. For many years, Boris travelled with him on tour and made numerous portraits of Chaliapin in various roles and from life. Double Portrait, from the collection of Vladimir Spivakov, shows Chaliapin variously made up, as if trying on a new role.