[TotTM] Pictures at an Exhibition 4/5
Menshevik
215
Meggan (1995)
This portrait of his Excalibur teammate Meggan is an important one in the
artistic evolution of Piotr Rasputin. Meggan's ability to transform her
physical appearance at will and her quirky personality in addition to a
fruitful visit to the Louvre put the idea into his mind not to paint a
realistic portrait but to render his multifaceted friend in a
polyperspectival, neo-cubist style. It marked the beginning of two years of
intense experimentation during which Piotr Rasputin strove to find more
personal, individual ways of artistic expression. The portrait was kindly
loaned by Brian and Meggan Braddock.
217
Waiting (1996)
The altercation between Piotr Rasputin and Peter Wisdom, Katherine Pryde's
new lover and subsequently her husband, is one of the events his
biographers have discussed the most. That he so seriously injured his
perceived rival triggered a period of intense critical self-reflection that
continued even after Peter Wisdom's recovery and the reconciliation with
him and Katherine Pryde. The sight of the dark side of his own soul
continued to haunt the artist, and one of the ways to react to and digest
his acts was a cycle of neo-Expressionist paintings. These remain in the
possession of the artist, who declared them too personal to be shown, with
the exception of the one before you. Peter Wisdom is seen in his hospital
bed, with an exaggeratedly complex life-support system looming above him.
Apart from the unnatural shades of his skin, he is delineated with a
sympathetic and almost naturalistic brush. This is a stark contrast to the
figure of Katherine Pryde beside him, who is pointedly turning her back on
the observer, that is the artist. Her face is bowed down to the unconscious
patient, and what little we can see of the it is rendered in soft curves
and warm shades of pink. But the sharp angles of her shoulders and elbows -
- in violent indigo and purple -- lash out outwards, erecting a protective
fence around her loved one. The dichotomy of inside and outside is taken up
by the coloring of the background.
222
Nereel and Peter (January 1998)
In 1997 Piotr Rasputin learned that he had fathered the five-year-old son
of Nereel, chief of the United Tribes in the Savage Land. Still feeling
superfluous to Excalibur's requirements, he took a vacation in Antarctica,
finally deciding to settle down with Tribes. His functions as father,
husband, and protector of the village left him enough time to pursue his
artistic career, while some of his friends joked that what attracted him
most was the Tribes' relaxed sexual mores. About three decades later he and
Nereel are still together. Not long after his move to the Savage Land,
Piotr Rasputin painted this double portrait of his consort and son. The
fabric on which it is painted is not canvas, but a fabric made by tribal
spinners and weavers from the fibers of plants that have been extinct for
millennia outside the Savage Land.
230
Brontosaurs Browsing (1999)
During the first years in his new home, Piotr Rasputin went out as often as
he could to explore the vistas, flora and fauna of the surroundings. The
landscapes and animal paintings on this wall form a representative
selection. The artist's son Peter was a frequent companion on these
excursions, and it was usual on such occasions for Piotr Rasputin to
include a small portrait or to paint a body-part of him in the picture. In
this specific case, the crown of Peter's head can just be discerned between
the fern leaves in the foreground at the bottom right. But at the same time
when on the one hand he returned to a more realistic painting style for his
landscapes and studies of village life, he also experimented intensively
with totally abstract works such as 'Composition #19 (revised)' on the
opposite wall behind you. Here he was laying the foundations of his middle
and later periods.
For a guide to the old Parlor Room and the sculpture 'Fighting for the
Dream' by Lyja Storm, punch 201.
239
Irene and Hope (1999)
Even after he moved to the Savage Land, Piotr Rasputin continued to be
invited by his former teammates and their families to record events -- such
as the 1999 Pryde-Wisdom wedding -- or arranged for him to portray friends.
One such occasion was for a portrait of National Security Advisor Valerie
Cooper, who had become closer to the artist's friends Kurt Wagner and Rogue
by becoming their mother's life-partner and giving birth to their sisters.
In 1999 the artist was commissioned to paint a portrait of Valerie Cooper
with her new-born younger daughter Hope, which Dr. Cooper then gave to
Raven Darkhölme as a present. (This painting in the Darkhölme-Cooper home
is not accessible to the public). During the breaks between the sittings,
Piotr Rasputin also did a number of other sketches, including this charming
pencil and wash picture of the two Cooper daughters: Irene, is seen at age
three, sitting in an easy chair with her two month old sister Hope in her
lap. Irene later served for four years with Factor X before becoming an
lawyer and politician under her married name Irene Cooper-Marks, while Hope
now is a well-known designer of theatrical and cinematic costumes.
247
Scenes from the Mfidul (2000)
Outsiders are rarely admitted to the United Tribes' spring festival, but in
October 2000 an exception was made for the X-men -- represented by members
both of the official team and the Meddlers -- who were invited to
participate after beating off the offensive of Garokk and Ares. Although he
himself was kept very busy during the dances and rituals, Piotr Rasputin
took the time to make thumbnail sketches of his friends and former
teammates. Above these, you can see a number of larger and more detailed
china ink drawings he afterwards drew based on these sketches. In the left
picture, Siryn is surrounded and tickled by a gaggle of Madroxes as amused
tribespeople watch on. A comparatively rare example of Piotr Rasputin
portraying friends in a cartoonish style, which is rather appropriate to
the occasion. In the second picture from the left, Storm is dancing a
Kuposa under the eyes of four admirers. Starting from the left, Wolverine,
Hercules (then in the Avengers/X-Men exchange scheme), Sunspot and Cimbota
of the Zebra People are sitting on reed mats and clapping the rhythm as
Ororo Munroe does her solo dance in the foreground. Apart from Cimbota,
all are dressed in traditional Fall People garb, which enabled the artist
to show off his figure-drawing skills in this very naturalistic picture.
Note the detailed shading of faces, muscles and other body parts in the
light of the Mfidul fire to the right foreground. Next to that is a more
intimate portrait of Nereel in festival finery using a quiet moment to
nurse Vsevolod, her and Piotr's second son. Finally, in the drawing on the
right there is a scene from the Mfidul feast, with Roberto Da Costa sitting
between Hercules' consort Hebe (a surprise guest) and Iruzu of the Fall
People, while in the foreground the artist's eight-year-old son Peter is
refilling Hebe's cup.
250
Petya and Volodya (2001)
Throughout his life Piotr Rasputin enjoyed being in the company of children
and portraying them. Not surprisingly his own children appeared in
paintings and sketches most frequently. Here is a picture of Peter (then
approaching his 10th birthday) with his eight years younger brother
Vsevolod. This painting is based on sketches of the two that the artist
took during the United Tribes' Midsummer festival in December 2001.
263
Moon over the Lost Lake (2002)
A nocturnal study of a full Moon reflected Savage Land's largest lake from
the spring of 2005. Piotr Rasputin confined himself to a limited palette in
this color woodcut, just black, two shades of grayish blue, and pale
yellow. A couple of Plesiosaurs can be seen just to the right of the
reflection of the Moon while the black foliage of trees and ferns forms an
irregular border.
270
Idol (2003)
The family visit to his parents in 2003 led to a resurgence of Siberian
themes in Piotr Rasputin's figurative art. Apart from a series of
landscapes based on sketches and photographs he took during the stay with
his parents, he also created a number of works inspired by Russian
literature. During the following years he did a series of illustrations for
the Song of Igor and Aleksandr Pushkin's 'Bronze Rider', among other
things. As the visit to Ust-Ordynski coincided with celebrations of
Yevgenii Yevtushenko's 70th birthday -- the poet's birthplace Zima is also
in the Irkutsk area -- the artist also let himself be inspired by some of
his poems, on which he based a series of prints. The black and red woodcut
before you is based on 'The Idol' from 1955, which describes an old wooden
idol in the midst of the Siberian Taiga, to whom shy Evenks had once
brought offerings of fur, honey and deer blood "believing that he prayed
and thought for them all". Now it is forgotten, but the poet thinks that at
night his eyes light up like fire and he licks his lips, thirsting for
blood... Piotr Rasputin gave the idol a big moss-covered mustache, which
some critics found a somewhat too obvious way to express his interpretation
of the idol as an allegory of Stalin.
To listen to a recording of Yevgenii Yevtushenko reciting the poem in
Russian, please press 271.
For an English translation read by Mary Jane Watson-Parker, please press
272.