[1] Alexander Samokhvalov was a well-known Russian painter, watercolorist, graphic artist, illustrator, and art teacher.

[2] The portrait In the Sun was painted in Gurzuf, Crimea, where between 1950 and 1960 Samokhvalov repeatedly vacationed with his wife Maria Alekseyevna Kleshchar-Samokhvalova.

After World War II, Mary moved to Leningrad, where she met Samokhvalov; they married in 1950.

In particular she served as a model for the central female figure of the picture Cafe Gurzuf (a young woman at a table in a pink blouse, apparently studying the menu).

[1][2][3] After her husband died, she took an active part in the preservation of his artistic legacy, as well as the publication of his literary heritage and organizing commemorative exhibitions of his works.