Korovin on the Okhotino Terrace with His Friend Suvorov

At the peak of his art, Constantin Korovin's Portrait of Piotr Ivanovitch Suvorov , painted in 1918, is one of his most beautiful and intimate scenes. The model, nonchalantly leaning against the balustrade of a veranda opening onto a sunny garden, is about to drink a glass of tea, or perhaps eat one of the fruits placed in front of him. This virtuoso composition, known only from a photograph of the artist painting it at the time, was considered lost. Until recently, when one of the model's descendants, living in France, offered it to   Lydie Brioult. Previously, the work had spent many years in Russia…