Kiprensky, Orest Adamovich 1782–1836 Painter, graphic artist and portraitist. His mother was a serf, who was set free receiving a freedom note after he was born. O.A.Kiprensky was the first Romanticist artist in Russian art. His main genre was portraits, he portrayed the model with new understanding and as an independent personality. Kiprensky's characters are remarkable in their inner freedom and incredible naturalness. They are overwhelmed by emotion, capable of deep and strong feelings, which sometimes turn out to be fleeting and contradictory. Each character that the artist painted was a "tiny universe". In his later work, the master displays features of classicism combined with a sharp linear structure, relative flatness and bright, defined colourful areas. Interpreting an individual has become more uniquely systematic. In 1825 his self-portrait was acquired by the renowned Uffici Gallery in Florence where it was displayed along with the collection of portraits of celebrated European artists.