Konstantin Somov’s portrait “Boxer” of the model Boris Snezhkovsky, 1933

Konstantin Somov, The Boxer. 1933.

Somov emigrated to the United States in 1923, but stayed there only a year. The Russian artist found a new home in Paris, where he illustrated Pushkin's poems and mostly painted portraits.

The boxer is the nineteen-year-old Boris Snezhkovsky, an artist's model who became a close friend of Somov, especially after the death of his partner Mefody Lukyanov, and often appeared with him at the opera, the theatre and exhibitions.

In 2007 the portrait was sold at Christie's for £580,500.