OK! Magazine, 1 May 2012

Tara Palmer-Tomkinson and Bianka Jagger were among the stars admiring the artwork of Russian miniature portrait artist Alexei Maximov. The portraits and enamel miniatures of Europe's royal families are on show for the first time since being commissioned by the Moscow Kremlin Museums in the 1990s.

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Amy Wilson, Tell Us Fashion, 26 April 2012

A perfect night at the Ritz for a Royal Exhibition

Celebrities mingled with royalty this week at a star-studded opening of leading miniature portraitist Alexei Maximov’s Royal Portraits exhibition

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Tatler, 20 April 2012

Royal Portraits Exhibition at The Ritz

… Steven Berkoff congratulated Alexei on the portraits - he's hoping the Duchess of Cambridge will be his next subject...

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Zimbio, 19 April 2012

The Royal Portraits exhibition (photo album)

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Demotix, 19 April 2012

Royal Portraits by Alexei Maximov at The Ritz - London

In commemoration of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee, VZ Gallery is proudly presenting the 'Royal Portraits' collection of original drawings and enamel miniatures by the Russian artist from St Petersburg, Alexei Maximov, at The Ritz Hotel.

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Adam Lusher, The Sunday Telegraph, 1 April 2012

'Let them drink vodka’: how the Queen Mother rewarded a Russian portrait artist

It was the most extraordinary royal portrait session...

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RIA Novosti, 27 March 2012

London's Ritz to host Royal Portraits Exhibition

An exhibition of mostly previously unseen life portraits and
enamel miniatures of Europe’s royal families commissioned
by the Moscow Kremlin Museums in the 1990s ... will be held in London in April.

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The Lady Daily, 20 January 2012

A royal toast

Portraits of the Royal Family commissioned by the Kremlin in the 1990s are expected to fetch £10 million at auction.
Among the life drawings and enamel miniatures by Alexei Maximov is a personal favourite of the Queen Mother....

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By Daily Telegraph Reporter, 20 January 2012

Queen Mother's vodka toast to Russian artistWHEN the Kremlin commissioned its first portrait of the late Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother it inspired her to get into the Russian spirit – by suggesting a vodka toast to the artist.

The drawing is one of a number of portraits of the Royal family produced for Moscow museums in the early 1990s that are expected to fetch up to £10 million at auction.

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The Scotsman, 19 January 2012

Kremlin's portraits of royals to fetch up to £10m

The first ever portraits of the Royal Family to be commissioned by the Kremlin are expected to fetch up to £10 million at auction.

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Vika Nova, NEW STYLE, № 100, Осt 27, 2011

Alexei Maximov: Enamel - a delicate matter

No British monarch in the history of the United Kingdom is said to have had as many portraits done as the present Queen Elizabeth II. From classical, ceremonial portraits to Andy Warhol’s Pop Art compositions – the range of styles and interpretations evident in the portraits of the Queen is staggeringly diverse. And in 2012, the British public will be given an opportunity to see a quite unusual, enamel portrait of Elizabeth II.

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CHAS PEAK, 6 July 1992

The Kremlin Artists Wanted to Portray the Queen, and the Queen Agreed

Evgeny Kharitonsky, KOMMERSANT, 16 March 1992

Maximov and Efros: Exit to Buckingham Palace Through the Armoury

"... After a glance at her portrait [the Queen] announced that the artists are to paint her daughter in a few days. On March 11, the miniaturists portrayed the Princess Royal...

The London's sessions are supported by the Russian Embassy, The Tower of London and Sotheby's".

HELLO, 14 March 1992

The Queen: Painted for Russia

"Two Russian artists ... have been painting an enamel portrait of the Queen. The portrait is the first painting of a British monarch ever to be commissioned by the Kremlin, which is nowadays principally a museum".

A.Krivopalov, IZVESTIA, 7 March 1992

Artists from St Petersburg Are Working on the Portrait of the Queen of England

"... During an hour and forty minutes Elizabeth II was sitting for enamel portraits commissioned by the Kremlin Museums".

NEVSKOYE VREMYA, 5 March 1992

St Petersburg's Artists Portray the Queen

Michael Binyon, THE TIMES, 4 March 1992

Kremlin's artists paint Queen

"Two Russian artists spent almost two hours with the Queen yesterday, painting the first portrait of a British monarch to be commissioned by the Kremlin.

Leonid Efros and Alexei Maximov, miniaturists from St Petersburg, are painting an enamel portrait that will be added to the portraits, historic regalia and jewellery of the Russian tsars now housed in the Kremlin Armoury. An exhibition of the treasures will be held next year at the Tower of London, and Buckingham Palace agreed to a Russian embassy request in December that the Queen's portrait be included.