Alexander
Roslin

He studied in Stockholm at G. Schroeder (1736-39).

Worked in Sweden (1745 and in the mid-1770s), Germany (1745-47), Italy (1747-52), France (1752), Russia (1775-77). Creating mainly portraits ("the Architect K. F., Adelcrantz", 1754, AH, Stockholm), R. combined commitment to deliver specific psychological characteristics of a model with such transfer fabrics, jewelry, etc. and iridescent coloring in the spirit of Rococo art.

When in 1776, Alexander Roslin, at the invitation of Catherine the great arrived in Petersburg, he was already one of Europe's leading portrait painters, the official painter of several European courts, including Swedish and French.

Alexander Roslin, painter and portraitist, was born in the family of a doctor in the Swedish city of Malmo. He started with naval architecture, but became interested in painting. From 1736 to 1739 Roslin studied with renowned portrait painter Gerhard Schroeder in Stockholm. After graduation, he worked in Sweden, and 1745 - in Brandenburg. In the years 1747-1751 famous artist lived in Italy.

In 1752 Alexander Roslin settled in Paris. He became known in high society and his portraits soon attracted the attention of scholars of his brilliant virtuosity that stood out even in the cutthroat competition of Paris. He is particularly able to convey the texture of velvet, the brilliance of jewels that sometimes make up for the lack of likeness. Gradually, he became one of the most respected portrait painters of the aristocracy.

In 1774 the crown Prince, the future Gustav III, Roslin invited to Sweden to create portraits of members of the Royal family. In January 1776, Roslyn was invited to Russia to write a formal portrait of the Empress Catherine II.

Gustav Adolf Reuterholm, the court of the Swedish king Gustav III, in his notes on the journey to St. Petersburg in 1776-1777 year described the workshop Roslin: "During the visit I had occasion to see more of the ornaments of the Empress, which he wrote, costing no less than 4 million rubles, as well as one of the dresses worn by the mannequin, with all the ornaments and symbols of power, placed over the Imperial mantle and placed next to". However, the portrait did not like Catherine in a letter to Baron Grimm, she noticed that Roslin painted her "Swedish cook, rough and simple."

In St. Petersburg, where he spent two years, Roslyn has written more than a hundred portraits. The artist worked quite truthfully, but without boring protokolizma inherent in the works of German artists. His portraits of the reigning monarchs he served for multiple copying, including Russian portraitists such as Rokotov. After Russia, he went back to Paris, where he died in 1793.