La Dame de Pique. [The Queen of Spades].

A beautiful copy of Shukhaev's La Dame de Pique with two additional suites.

Pushkin's much loved story The Queen of Spades illustrated by the artist Vasiliy Shukhaev who was a member of Mir Isskustva and studied under master draughtsman, Dmitry Kardovsky. Shukhaev along with other influential members of the movement such as Benois and Somov, was inspired by the paintings of Watteau and Fragonard. Although closely associated with Russian avant-garde painters, Shukhaev be it consciously or unconsciously fought against their extremism.

He never betrayed his allegiance to the canons of the rococo period and his pochoir illustrations to The Queen of Spades demonstrated his endeavour to maintain the elegance and measured taste of the Mir Isskustva. The Moscow Museum of Modern Art exhibited a large-scale retrospective exhibition of Shukhaev in 2014 of which his illustrations of La Dame de Pique were a highlight.