Philip Andreevich Malyavin was a prominent Russian portrait painter. A student of Repin, he was known primarily for his sympathetic paintings of peasants with their brilliant color. On occasion he did an official portrait such as that of A. Lunacharsky and made sketches for one of Lenin. He eventually settled in Paris with his family. Dr. Pavlov was of course celebrated for his behavioral studies with dogs.

Maliavin grew up in the village of Kazanka in Samara province. The vivid and intricately patterned textiles seen in Maliavin's work directly reflect the Kazanka peasants' traditional clothes, while infusing an infectious cheerfulness. In Three Babas, the women are a ju...