Valentin Serov

Born into an artistic family in Saint Petersburg in 1865, Valentin Serov was the son of a renowned composer and music critic, Alexander Serov, and composer Valentina Serova. This rich environment fostered his early talents, leading him to study under masters like Ilya Repin in Paris and Moscow, and Pavel Chistyakov at the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts. Serov's early work, particularly portraits like *The Girl with Peaches* (1887) and *The Girl Covered by the Sun* (1888), sh…