(Vienna 1757–1829)
Portrait of Prince Alexis Andréevitch Galitzine (1767–1800), three-quarter-length, in a red coat, seated in a park landscape, a greyhound nearby,
signed and dated lower right: Jos. Kreutzinger pinx/ 1795,
oil on canvas, 137.5 x 99 cm, framed

Provenance:
Collection of Prince Alexis Andréevitch Galitzine (1767–1800), Senator of the Russian Empire, Privy Councillor, Actual Chamberlain and Equerry of His Imperial Majesty Tsar Paul I, member of the Imperial Legation at Vienna;
by descent to his son Prince Alexis Alexéevitch Galitzine (1800–1876), Gentleman of the Chamber to His Imperial Majesty Tsar Nicholas I, Titular Councillor, Honourary Curator of the Gymnasium of Smolensk;
by descent to his son Prince Paul Alexéevitch Galitzine (1833–1902), Director of the Archives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Master of Court of His Imperial Majesty Tsar Alexander III, Actual State Councillor, formerly Secretary of the Russian Embassy at Brussels and Lieutenant in the Gardes à Cheval;
(possibly) Collection of Basile Pétrovitch Kotchoubeï (1868–1940), circa 1905–1909;
Collection of the Zariphis family, Switzerland and Greece, 2022;
where purchased by the present owner

Exhibited:
Moscow, The Imperial Stroganoff School, Vystavka chudożestvennych proizvedenij stariny, ustraivaemoj v pol’zu vnov‘ strojuśćagosja detskago prijuta Elizavetinskago Blagotvorintel’nago Obśćestva pod Avgustejśim pokrovitel’stvom Eja Imperatorskago Vysoćestva Velikoj Knjagini Elizavety Feodorovny [Exhibition of antique works of art to benefit the rebuilding of the orphanage of the Elisabeth Philanthropic Society, under the August patronage of Her Imperial Highness, Grand Duchess Elisabeth of Russia], 1901, no. 251

Literature:
Ukazatel‘ sostojaśćej pod avgusteijśim pokrovitel’stvom Eja Imperatorskago Vysoćestva velokoj knjagini Elizavety Feodorovny vystavki chudożestvennych proizvedenij stariny, ustraivaemoj v pol’zu vnov‘ strojuśćagosja detskago prijuta Elizavetskago blagotvoritel’nago obśćestva [Catalogue of the exhibition of antique works of art to benefit the rebuilding of the orphanage of the Elisabeth Philanthropic Society, under the August patronage of Her Imperial Highness, Grand Duchess Elisabeth of Russia], exhibition catalogue, Moscow 1901, p. 28, no. 251;
Grand Duke Nicholas Michaïlovich [Romanoff], Russkije Portrety XVII I XIX stoletij, Portraits Russes des XVIII et XIX siècles, Saint Petersburg 1905, vol. I, no. 18, illustrated;
(possibly) A. Gołębiewski, Po povodu novych priobretenij Muzeja Imperatora Aleksandra III I Imperatorskago Ėrmitaża [With regards to the new acquisitions of the Emperor Alexander III Museum and the Imperial Hermitage], Starye Gody [Bygone Years], March 1909, p. 169 ‘knjaz’ A. A. Golucyn, byl predstavlen na velikolepnim portrety, ćrezvryćajno ėffektnom, Krejzingerom’ [as a portrait of prince A.A. Galitzine by Kreutzinger];
Gosudarstvennyj Ėrmitaż, Otdel zapadnoevropeijskogo iskusstva: Katalog żivopisi. Musée de l’Ermitage, Departement de l’Art Occidental: Catalogue des Peintures, Leningrad and Moscow, 1958, vol. II, p. 364–365, mentioned under no. 5143;
(possibly) U. Thieme, F. Becker and H. Vollmer, Allgemeines Lexikon der bildenden Künstler von der Antike bis zur Gegenwart, Leipzig 1907–1950, vol. XXI, p. 520;
N. Nikulin, B. Aswaristsch, Deutsche und Österreichische Malerei. Ermitage, Leningrad 1986, p. 53, mentioned under no. 224;
N. Nikulin, The Hermitage Catalogue of Western European Painting. German and Austrian Painting. Fifteenth to Eighteenth Centuries, Florence 1987, p. 461, mentioned under no. 392;
A.A. Galitzine and C.H. Galitzine, The Princes Galitzine. Before 1917… and Afterwards, Washington 2002, p. 642, illustrated;
A. Napp, Russische Porträts. Geschlechterdifferenz in der Malerei zwischen 1760 und 1820, Cologne/Weimar/Vienna 2010, pp. 147–148 and 226, ill. 90;

We are grateful to Alexis Ashot for his assistance in cataloguing this lot.

The calmly captured sitter in the present work is a member of the famous Galitzine family, nobles of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania who eventually rose to prominence in the Russian Empire. Celebrated for their linguistic ability, international outlook and cultivation, the Galitzines came to be known for producing many distinguished imperial diplomats, starting as early as the sixteenth century. Prince Alexis Andréevitch Galitzine depicted here, was the son of Prince André Michaïlovitch Galitzine and his wife Élisabeth Borissovna, née Princess Youssoupoff. Entering the diplomatic service, he became attached to the Russian Embassy in Vienna, where his uncle, Prince Dimitri Michaïlovitch Galitzine, a known patron of Mozart, had already made a reputation as Imperial Ambassador, giving his name to the ‘Gallitzinberg’, one of today’s leafy residential suburbs of Vienna.

Prince Alexis’ choice of Kreutzinger in 1795 may have had something to do with the latter’s trip and stay in Saint Petersburg, but undoubtedly the fashionable young diplomat, not yet 30, would above all have prided himself on being portrayed by the same brush as the Holy Roman Emperor. Dressed in the latest Parisian taste, he makes an understated display of wealth in the simple but highly-worked riding crop, costly and iconic high hat, and the greyhound that accompanies him on what appears to be a leisurely walk in the park. Prince Alexis Andréevitch Galitzine was a man of intellectual accomplishments, a writer and scientist with an interest in mineralogy and volcanology.

The artist of the present work was the leading portraitist of Austrian society in the Age of Romanticism and is best known today as the court painter of Francis II and I, Holy Roman Emperor (1768–1835). A fine example of the latter by Kreutzinger is currently conserved in the Heeresgeschichtliches Museum, Vienna (inv. no. BI12373). Kreutzinger entered the Art Academy of Saint Anna in Vienna at the age of 10 in 1768 and received the title of Hof- und Kammermaler to the Imperial and Royal family in 1790. Over the succeeding years the artist would create many iconic images of Austrian Imperial society and had to hold his own against international artists who portrayed his clientele including Thomas Lawrence and Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun. In addition to his many portraits of Austrian notables, Kreutzinger portrayed important international diplomatic Viennese guests such as Field Marshal General Suvorov, who had his portrait painted in Vienna in 1799, currently conserved in the Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg (inv. no. ЭРЖ-1916).

The present portrait relates to a bust length version currently conserved in The State Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg (inv. no. ГЭ-5143) and is, according to the museum, either a replica or a sketch of the present portrait. Another work much reduced in dimensions and painted on panel, was auctioned at Sotheby’s, New York, 30 January 2020, lot 277, and could possibly be an autograph preparatory work by Kreutzinger for the present painting.