Visual Arts Library
Landscape with Herrings and Russian Kerchief
Artist: Oscar Rabine
Date:
1997
Medium: oil on canvas
Dimensions: 46 x 56 cm
Event: Soviet Repression
Motif:
Landscapes
Rabine and the other artists of the Lianozovo school focused on the grim realities of the living conditions of the average Soviet citizen, such as the barrack-like suburbs of Moscow. Rabine's paintings were among those destroyed in the infamous 1974 Bulldozer Exhibition, an open-air exhibit that was raided by government bulldozers. Rabine depicts mundane objects and images of daily life in his paintings, sometimes combining still life and landscape. He enjoys depicting fish because of their shape, and has said, "I draw herrings like Cezanne drew apples." He often achieves unusual surface textures by mixing sand and wax with his paint, adding gold leaf, fragments of newspaper or other texts, such as vodka label, creating a collage effect. In his paintings, the 'icons' of Communism have been exchanged for the 'icons' of everyday life. Says Rabine: "I understood fairly well that free deformation, which is characteristic of drawings made from the point of view of children gave me the opportunity of expressing myself properly. The intrusion of everyday objects in a painting space creates a dual feeling of intimacy and remoteness."
Credits: Courtesy Mimi Ferzt Gallery, New York.
Search this web site: