Press
The Lady Daily, 20 January 2012
A royal toast
Portraits of the Royal Family commissioned by the Kremlin in the 1990s are expected to fetch £10 million at auction.
Among the life drawings and enamel miniatures by Alexei Maximov is a personal favourite of the Queen Mother....
By Daily Telegraph Reporter, 20 January 2012
Queen Mother's vodka toast to Russian artist
WHEN the Kremlin commissioned its first portrait of the late Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother it inspired her to get into the Russian spirit – by suggesting a vodka toast to the artist.
The drawing is one of a number of portraits of the Royal family produced for Moscow museums in the early 1990s that are expected to fetch up to £10 million at auction.
The Scotsman, 19 January 2012
Kremlin's portraits of royals to fetch up to £10m
The first ever portraits of the Royal Family to be commissioned by the Kremlin are expected to fetch up to £10 million at auction.
Vika Nova, NEW STYLE, № 100, Осt 27, 2011
Alexei Maximov: Enamel - a delicate matter
No British monarch in the history of the United Kingdom is said to have had as many portraits done as the present Queen Elizabeth II. From classical, ceremonial portraits to Andy Warhol’s Pop Art compositions – the range of styles and interpretations evident in the portraits of the Queen is staggeringly diverse. And in 2012, the British public will be given an opportunity to see a quite unusual, enamel portrait of Elizabeth II.
Michael Binyon, THE TIMES, 4 March 1992
Kremlin's artists paint Queen
"Two Russian artists spent almost two hours with the Queen yesterday, painting the first portrait of a British monarch to be commissioned by the Kremlin.
Leonid Efros and Alexei Maximov, miniaturists from St Petersburg, are painting an enamel portrait that will be added to the portraits, historic regalia and jewellery of the Russian tsars now housed in the Kremlin Armoury. An exhibition of the treasures will be held next year at the Tower of London, and Buckingham Palace agreed to a Russian embassy request in December that the Queen's portrait be included.
HELLO, 14 March 1992
The Queen: Painted for Russia
"Two Russian artists ... have been painting an enamel portrait of the Queen. The portrait is the first painting of a British monarch ever to be commissioned by the Kremlin, which is nowadays principally a museum".
Evgeny Kharitonsky, KOMMERSANT, 16 March 1992
Maximov and Efros: Exit to Buckingham Palace Through the Armoury
"... After a glance at her portrait [the Queen] announced that the artists are to paint her daughter in a few days. On March 11, the miniaturists portrayed the Princess Royal...
The London's sessions are supported by the Russian Embassy, The Tower of London and Sotheby's".
A.Krivopalov, IZVESTIA, 7 March 1992
Artists from St Petersburg Are Working on the Portrait of the Queen of England
"... During an hour and forty minutes Elizabeth II was sitting for enamel portraits commissioned by the Kremlin Museums".