Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna (Russian, 1882-1960) Crimean View of the Black Sea, circa 1913 Watercolor 3-3/8 x 5 inches (8.6 x 12.7 cm) (sight) Initialed OA and dated 1913 in pencil lower left, the reverse of the card inscribed in English This card was painted by the Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna / Happy New Year /B PROVENANCE: Property from a Chicago Collection. Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna, the youngest daughter of Emperor Alexander II and Empress Maria Feodorovna was a talented artist and studied in St. Petersburg under Konstantin Kryzhitsky. In 1901 she married a cousin, Duke Peter of Oldenburg, and entered into an unhappy fifteen year match. The year 1912 proved too stressful for the Grand Duchess; her unhappy marriage, her brother Grand Duke Michael's marriage to a twice-divorced commoner and subsequent exile, and a stressful trip to Great Britain with her mother caused a nervous breakdown. Part of 1913 was spent resting at her husband's estate at Gagry in Crimea (now Ukraine), and it was in this sad period that the Grand Duchess recorded this wistful view. HID12401132022 © 2024 Heritage Auctions | All Rights Reserved