[4] It is one of Russia's best-known artworks, although a number of critics were indignant when the painting was first exhibited and condemned what they saw as a depiction of a haughty and immoral woman.

[5] The painting hangs in the Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, while an earlier version, also dated 1883, is housed at the Kunsthalle Kiel.

By 1883, he was at the height of his fame and reputation and working at the highest level of patronage, producing portraits of Czar Alexander III and his wife Maria Feodorovna.

[9] However, Portrait of an Unknown Woman caused a sensation when first exhibited, more as a result of the subject matter than the aesthetics of the work.

One critic described the painting as a portrayal of "a coquette in a carriage", while another wrote of "a provocatively beautiful woman, all in velvet and fur, throwing you a sneeringly sensuous glance from a luxurious carriage – is this not one of the effluvia of big cities that allow contemptible women dressed in outfits purchased for the price of their female chastity onto the streets".