Liubov Popova was born in 1889, the second child and eldest daughter of the rich and philanthropically inclined owner of a textile factory. The family hone was in a village outside Moscow near her father's factory. It was a comfortable upbringing, with attentive parents and plenty of servants. There was no suggestion in this liberal atmosphere that girls were unworthy of further education and Popova attended high school in Moscow before going on to art school in 1908.

With more money and time than most of her contemporaries, she threw herself into study and travel, spending weeks visiting every church and monastery in the chain of medieval towns between Moscow and St.Petersburg known as Russia's "Golden Circle"....