MICHAEL A. (MIKHAIL ALEXANDROVICH) WERBOFF - AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED 02/02/1964 - HFSID 31886

MICHAEL A. (MIKHAIL ALEXANDROVICH) WERBOFF
This handwritten letter describing the amount of appreciation he's received in the hospital is signed "Michel" by the Russian artist
Autograph letter signed: "Michel" in blue ink. 6¼x9¼. University Hospital, February 2, 1964. Written on personal letterhead to "Dear Lou", in full: "This is the first day that I can write a note of thanks to you for mentioning my illness in your column. It was heartwarming to find out how many wonderful and kind friends I have. I had innumerable phone calls and visitors, and my room resembled that of a movie star- it was filled with flowers. I am glad to report that the operation was very successful and no malignancy was found. I am hoping to be home by Thursday Feb, 6th and would love to have you come for a drink and a good cigar to the studio. You have not yet seen the portrait of Granny Rice. Most Cordially". Michael Werboff (1896-1996), born Mikhail Alexandrovich Werboff, is a Russian portraitist. He studied painting at the Academy of Fine Arts in St. Petersburg under Ilya Repin, the 19th-century Russian realist. After the Russian Revolution, Werboff taught art and ran a museum for three years, and also painted portraits of important Russian figures He immigrated to New York City in 1933, where he stayed for the next thirty years. Among Werboff's subjects were Bernard Baruch, Indira Gandhi, King Gustaf V of Sweden, King Alfonso XIII of Spain, and the philosopher Krishnamurti. His portraits of Ezio Pinza and Feodor Chaliapin hang in the Metropolitan Opera House. He painted from life with one notable exception: in the early 1970's he painted individual portraits of the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence, doing extensive research to determine how each would have looked at the time. Russian President Boris N. Yeltsin awarded him an Order of Friendship medal in 1995. Lightly toned. Corners rounded. Normal mailing folds. Date stamp on upper right corner. Pencil note (unknown hand) in upper left corner. Otherwise, fine condition.