Davydoff, M.A.

Memoirs of a Russian Lady

New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., Publishers, 1986.

Used.

Item #4725
ISBN: 0810908395

Hardcover
156 pp., with illustrations

The work's subtitle describes it well. Dax, the editor, has prepared for publication the manuscripts of a distant relative, Davydoff. This Russian aristocratic lady spent her life up to the Revolution in the Ukraine on the large estates of the gentry. Privately educated and trained in watercoloring, she wrote and painted for her heirs from memory after fleeing the Revolution. As published, the stories and drawings are wonderfully matched, sharing a simplicity and wistfulness for a lost society, while vividly portraying a sense of life and leisure. The watercolors combine detail with whimsy. A lovely addition to subject collections and for those interested in the cultural and social life of the era.

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