In 1895, Serov received an invitation from the publisher Anatoly Mamontov to create illustrations for Ivan Krylov’s fables. The publication, conceived on a monumental scale, was never fully realised, with only two fables seeing light in the pages of the periodical Detskii otdykh (Children's Rest) published by Mamontov’s wife, Maria Mamontova. Captivated by the idea, Serov continued working on these illustrations as a personal project. In 1911, he came to an agreement with Iosif Knebel to publish Twelve Illustrations by V.Serov for Fables by I.A. Krylov, but this project did not materialise either since the artist died just three days after signing the contract. Yet the preparatory drawings Serov created, including the work offered here for sale, form an important part of the artist’s legacy.

As Igor Grabar writes, Serov’s illustrations for Krylov are numerous since the artist worked on these intermittently for fifteen years and did not destroy any of them. In search of a perfect line, he would often trace the previous drawing to rework one or two specific details (I.Grabar, Valentin Aleksandrovich Serov, Moscow, 1914, p.264). Grabar further notes that these illustrations somet.mes s exist in ‘five, six, or even ten versions. Despite being almost identical, it is precisely these repeated examples which allow [one] to understand the artist’s working proсess and help uncover his intentions and hidden aspirations’ (ibid., p.254).

The version closest to the present lot was acquired from the artist’s widow Olga Serova by the State Tretyakov Gallery in 1914 and is illustrated in Grabar's publication (fig.1). Similar compositions also feature in the collects ions of the Abramtsevo State Historical-Artistic and Literary Museum-Reserve and the Novosibirsk State Art Museum. An earlier composition, dated 1895-1898, shows the four protagonists from a different angle (ibid., p.256). These versions demonstrate a visible shift from very detailed drawings, in line with traditional 19th century-style book illustrations, to free-flowing sketches that convincingly translate Krylov’s lively, natural language into visual form.

Quartet was exhibited at the 1935 Serov exhibition at the State Tretyakov Gallery and is listed in the exhibition catalogue under no.584 as part of Grigory Grinshtein’s collects ion. It was subsequently included in the artist’s 1952 retrospective at the Moscow Central House of Art Workers and is recorded in the catalogue under no.259. As per the exhibition label and inscription on the reverse, by that t.mes it was in the collects ion of B.V. Krylov, Moscow.