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Elise HügelRussian Princess Olga Meyendorff, born Gorchakov, 19th Century Portrait1858
1858
$2,603.55
£1,945.56
€2,200
CA$3,625.31
A$3,895.78
CHF 2,090.31
MX$45,889.92
NOK 26,283.36
SEK 24,009.68
DKK 16,770.77
About the Item
Portrait of Princess Olga Gorchakov by female 19th century artist Elise Hügel.
An oval portrait of Princess Olga Gortschakoff (1838–1926), here pictured soon after her marriage to Baron Friedrich Adeldagus Felix von Meyendorff, becoming Baroness von Meyendorff, signed Elise Hügel and dated 1858. Executed in oil on canvas, the work shows a young Olga in her early 20´s, dressed in a black lace dress, with a single red rose fastened at the neckline. Around her neck, a red silk ribbon is tied, adding a vivid accent of color together with the rose against the otherwise dark attire. She is presented with poise and dignity, in keeping with mid-19th-century aristocratic portrait conventions. The gilded wooden frame is of later manufacture but in the style of the period.
Olga von Meyendorff: Life and Cultural Role
Princess Olga Gorchakov, sometimes spelled Gortschakoff was born in Warsaw in 1837 (some sources say 1838), belonged to the Russian noble family of Gorchakov. In 1857 she married Baron Friedrich Adeldagus Felix von Meyendorff (1834–1871), a Baltic-German diplomat in Russian service who later became envoy in Weimar. The couple had four sons and moved within the diplomatic and cultural elite of Europe.
After the sudden death of her husband in 1871, Olga remained socially active, especially in Weimar, where her salon became a significant meeting place for artists, writers, and musicians. She was herself a competent pianist and became closely associated with Franz Liszt during the last decades of his life. Liszt corresponded with her extensively between 1871 and 1886, dedicating several piano works to her, including intimate late pieces such as the Impromptu (Nocturne), S.191 and selections from the Valses oubliées. Through this exchange, Olga became not only a confidante but also a cultural interlocutor who helped to shape the intellectual and musical life of her time.
Olga’s influence and legacy are preserved above all in the published collection "The Letters of Franz Liszt to Olga von Meyendorff" (1871–1886), which documents their friendship and intellectual partnership. She died in Rome in 1926. Her life exemplifies the cultural role of noblewomen in 19th-century Europe, bridging diplomacy, salon culture, and the arts.
Elise Hügel
The painter of Olga’s 1858 portrait, Elise Hügel, remains a somewhat enigmatic figure in art history. Biographical records of her life and career are scarce, but her signed work demonstrates a confident grasp of portrait conventions in mid-19th-century Europe. She is known to have produced portraits in mid-19th century Germany or central Europe. The signature and date 1858 place her active in the same period when portraiture by women artists was less frequently documented, especially in aristocratic circles. The portrait of Olga Gortschakoff testifies to Hügel’s professional standing and to the commissioning practices of aristocratic families, who often sought out capable women artists for such intimate likenesses.
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