Provenance: Giacometti Georgiev collection.
With autenthication of Maria Giacometti Georgiev.
Signature upper left. References: Plamena Dimitrova Racheva, Boris Georgiev of Varna, Ed. Kibea, p. 89 and 137.
The first portrait of Nilufar was created in Delhi in 1936. She was a Turkish princess, the daughter of a Georgian aristocrat, and the cousin of Princess Duru Shevar. She was married to on of the Haydarabad maharaja's sons. The portrait depicts her from the waist up in the foreground, with the line of the horizon low in the background. To the left behind her is the palace of Haydarabad. The gentle figure dominates in space, but looks lonely in a deserted world. The dynamic line of he silhouette causes the image of the princess to stand out. She is dressed in the traditional white silk sari with golden bands. She hypnotises the viewer with her gaze; her beautiful face is kind and noble. The perfectly executed lines are carved in the primer and coloured, and they follow graphically the graceful gestures and the rich folds of the silk, entwined with the ornaments of the sari's golden band. The young woman wears no jewellery but she creates such a feeling of harmony that her beauty becomes almost unreal. The artist considered Nilufar one of the most beautiful women he ever painted. On April 2, 1936 he wrote from Delhi to his friend Sophia Polkovnikova: "... I began the portrait of the Haydarabad princess, and extraordinary beauty. The portrait is progressing well and she is delighted by it. Yesterday, while I was painting her, I told her the romantic story of our youth and of your destiny. She was moved to tears. Although incredibly beautiful (you cannot really judge from the small photos), she is an exceptionally sensitive and noble person".