Z punktu widzenia historii może to być ważna praca dla Rosjan a z punktu widzenia malarstwa ważna dla Polaków. Elizabeth Balletta była bowiem za czasów carskich primabariną Teatru Michajłowskiego w Petersburgu a co ważniejsze i dużo ciekawsze była równocześnie kochanką Wielkiego Księcia Aleksieja Aleksandrowicza Romanowa, syna cara Aleksandra II. Ten obsypywał ją drogimi podarkami co było źródłem wielu skandali, zwłąszcza po porażce floty rosyjskiej z japońską w 1905 roku. Carewicz był bowiem podobno skorumpowanym i niekometentym dowódcą floty i został usuniety z tego stanowiska po tej wielkiej porażce. Tadeusz Styka chyba spotkał Elizabeth Balettę we Francji i użył swojego najlepszego talentu by ją tam sportretować i oddać rys psychologiczny postaci. Obraz sprzedano w sumie niedrogo a licytowano go od 8,000 euro.

Lot 60. Tadeusz STYKA (1889-1954). Portrait of Elisabeth Balletta (c.1870-1959). Oil on canvas, signed lower left. Framed. H. 92.2 x 72.5 cm. Provenance Commissioned by Elisabeth Balletta from the painter Tadeusz Styka, Paris. Private collection of her descendants, Paris. Estimate 10,000 – 15,000 euro. Millon. 12/11/23. Sold 13,000 euro

This superb portrait of Elisabeth Balletta, known as the Balletta, is the best-known painting of the famous ballerina from the Michel Theater in St. Petersburg. It is presented to the public for the first time and has been kept in the family of her descendants until now. Elisabeth Balletta achieved dazzling success when she embarked on a brilliant career as a ballet dancer at the Imperial Michel Theater in St. Petersburg. She became its Prima Donna and was noticed by Tsarevich Nicholas Alexandrovich, before meeting his uncle, Grand Duke Alexis Balletta. Grand Duke Alexis Alexandrovich (1850-1908). This much-maligned love affair marked a turning point in the life of the woman known as “La Balletta”. Covered in jewels by the Czar, most of them commissioned from the greatest jewelers, notably Fabergé, she proudly wore them during her theatrical performances. She is notably known for having received or ordered exceptional pieces from suppliers to the imperial court, including a bracelet by F. Koechli, which she wears on this portrait on her right wrist, and which was sold in 2008 (Artcurial sale). After being accused of being responsible for the Tsushima debacle, Elisabeth Balletta left Russia after a twenty-five-year career at the Théâtre Michel, and settled in Paris in her sumptuous apartment on Avenue Bosquet. Heiress to a large fortune following the death of the Grand Duke, it was during this period in Paris that she met Tadeusz Styka and commissioned him to paint this large portrait. As the embodiment of her new life, she is portrayed serene and accomplished, wrapped in a large fur stole and jewels symbolizing her success.