Boris Kustodiev, 1878 to 1927, watercolor, and pencil on paper female portrait titled Woman Knitting. Signed lower right. Matted and framed. Boris Mikhaylovich Kustodiev was a Russian and Soviet painter and stage designer. Boris Kustodiev was born in Astrakhan into the family of a professor at the local theological seminary. The Kustodiev family rented a small wing in a rich merchant's house. The artist retained his childhood observations for years, recreating them later in oils and watercolors. Antique Russian Watercolor Portrait Paintings For Collectors. Provenance: Anna Feltsman Estate. Feltsman family: Oscar Feltsman 1921-2013 was a Russian Ukrainian-born composer of Lithuanian Jewish descent. He was the father of Vladimir Feltsman, born in 1952 a Russian-American classical pianist. Anna Feltsman was the first wife of Vladimir Feltsman.