[X-Folk] Pictures at an Exhibition 5/5
Menshevik
275
Ruslan and Lyudmila (2005)
His new role as a father also became the inspiration for a number of
smaller works, as Piotr Rasputin drew pictures to go with the stories and
fairy tales he told to his two sons. This crayon drawing of the hero and
heroine of Aleksandr Pushkin's poem 'Ruslan i Lyudmila' was originally used
when the artist told that fairy tale to his younger son as a good-night
story.
280
Home Are the Hunters (2006)
Being inaccessible to normal tourists, the Savage Land was a popular place
to spend vacations for the X-Men and their allies. Here, in the middle of
the first decade of the 21st century, long-time X-Men leader Storm is
returning from an excursion on foot with her five-year-old daughter Umeme
and companion Yukio. The title is not entirely correct, as the "hunters'"
catch consists entirely of fishes.
284
Aunt Illyana with the Boys (2007)
Continuing to evolve his abstract style, Piotr Rasputin finally decided to
stop taking commissions for portraits, landscapes and other realistic
pictures. This did not mean that he discontinued that aspect of his work
entirely. Like a number of other abstract painters, notably Kurt
Schwitters, he intermittently sought relief from the stress of his main
oeuvre by 'dabbling' in portraits, nudes and landscapes. However, this led
to a slight reduction in scope, as most of the landscapes of this period
were of parts of the Savage Land or Siberia, and most of the figure
paintings were of relatives and close friends. One such example is this
triple portrait of the artist's two sons and his sister, painted during
Illyana Rasputina's visit to Antarctica in the summer of 2007.
290
Recess (2008)
An everyday scene at the Massachusetts Academy: Headmistress Emma Frost and
teacher Edna Tamzarian conversing by the front door and watching students
at play and relaxing during a spring day recess. This painting is based on
photographs taken by Piotr Rasputin when he visited his eldest son at the
Academy during his freshman year. Peter, then in Ms. Tamzarian's class, is
the tallest youth in the group of four in the lower right corner. The
painting was one of two donated to Xavier's School after the graduation of
the artist's younger son, Vsevolod, which, apart from this exhibition, are
on permanent display at the Academy teachers' lounge in Snow Valley,
Massachusetts.
295
Three Sisters in the Savage Land (2009)
Two of Piotr Rasputin's most frequent visitors among his former teammates
were Rogue and Magneto, who liked to take vacations together in the Savage
Land to which they were sentimentally attached. Later, when they were old
enough, Rogue also brought her young sisters, on prehistoric camping trips.
At the time this painting was created, during the summer of 2008/09, Irene
and Hope Cooper were twelve and nine, respectively. In the foreground their
big sister is showing them how to make a spear for catching fish, while in
the background Magneto is playing chess with seventeen-year-old Peter,
watched by Nereel, Volodya and the artist. Piotr Rasputin combined two
separate events into one picture. The painting is normally inaccessible to
the public as it is housed in Rogue and Magneto's home in the Old Hunting
Lodge. It is on show by kind permission of the heirs.
304
Peter and Friends (2011)
After graduating from Xavier's School, Piotr and Nereel's son Peter
returned to the Savage Land to his parental village, becoming a full member
of the society of the United Tribes. In particular, like his father before
him, he took a large part in the Tribal irregular defenses, while in
everyday life he discovered a penchant for teaching children what he had
learned in Snow Valley. On this portrait, however, he is shown relaxing
with two lady friends, Juma and Niaro.
310
Studies for Requiem 27 and 28 (2014)
The battle on September 2, 2013, which cost most of the active X-Men their
lives, left a deep mark on the artist, who had many close friends among the
victims. The shock of their untimely deaths would lie oppressively over
Piotr Rasputin's work for the next two years, and found its artistic
expression in the Requiem series of paintings. By now he had become
primarily and abstract painter, and the Requiem paintings are a prime
example of his new style. The first score or so of them were rather
overpowered by deep blacks and dark reds, but in the ones that followed a
fond remembrance of his friends' and former teammates' lives came to the
fore and relieved their deep gloom. Brighter colors appeared, and most
critics tend to interpret the pictures as inspired by individual X-Men,
usually citing the similarity of the colors to those of their costumes,
hair and so on, even though the pictures were only numbered within the
general series, not named. The artist however refused to be drawn to
confirm any of the circulating interpretations . The two compositions
before you, Numbers 27 and 28, are usually seen as evocations of Rogue and
Magneto. Number 27, on the left, is dominated by vibrant greens and warm
burnt sienna. The general effect of the wavy lines and small flecks,
interspersed with golden yellow sprinkles, is not unlike foliage in the
sun, and has been linked to Rogue's love of nature, both that of her native
Mississippi, and that of the Savage Land which she visited a number of
times. Number 28 to the right is characterized by sharper lines and angles
in bright red and purple. The shape of a narrow triangle standing on its
point dominates the picture, and has been alternatively interpreted as an
evocation of the colored triangles worn by prisoners in German
concentration camps or a stylized male figure by different writers. The
finalized and full-sized pictures, along with the other ones of the series,
will be on show at the Museum of Modern Art next year.
For a guide to the prominent features of this, the old Formal Dining Room,
select 311.
322
Visitors X (2016)
Factor X was formed in the aftermath of The Day the X-Men Died from the
survivors of the team and the government-sponsored X-Factor. It would take
three years until a squad from Factor X would pass through the Savage Land.
After the end of their mission, they spent a couple of days with the United
Tribes, which was when the artist sketched this group portrait. Of Piotr
Rasputin's old teammates, only one, Wolverine, is among those present,
while three of the others are children of his former comrades. Wolverine is
standing on the left; next to him are the squad's leader, Mystique, along
with Cloudburst (Umeme Munroe), Overdrive (Irene Cooper), Strong Guy (Guido
Carosella), Lodestone (Chris Summers) and Tribune (Daniel Summers).
350
Peter Wisdom With His Children (2020)
A lithograph that, according to those who knew him, nicely captures Peter
Wisdom's enigmatic smile. The famous member of Excalibur is shown at home,
sitting in his favorite upholstered chair amidst his teenage children
Margot, Rudolph and John. The picture was originally a birthday present for
Dame Katherine Wisdom, but had a somber later history, as she used it as an
illustration to the cards she sent out to those who had attended the
funeral after her husband died of lung cancer in 2023. Kindly lent by the
owner.
365
The Cenotaph at Xavier Mansion (2023)
Piotr Rasputin attended the unveiling of the X-Men Cenotaph on 2nd
September, 2023, and during that visit sketched the buildings, memorials
and a number of other sights on the estate that he then turned into a
twelve-part series of lithographs to be sold for the benefit of the Charles
Francis Xavier Foundation. He completed his task the following year. The
sketch before you was used for number five, 'View of the Mansion From
Memorial Park', a print of which you can see below. The entire finished
series can be seen at the Visitors' Center, where you can also purchase
individual prints or the complete set, as well as works donated by other
artists.
370
Supper in Harvest Time (2023)
The family of the artist's elder son family is shown in an everyday
setting, gathered around their meal at the end of a hard day's work in
autumn. Petya is serving eleven-year-old Oleg another bowl of Savage Land
Stew with a wooden ladle. His wife Banu meanwhile is conversing with
Svetlana (then aged seven). There are a few trappings of modern
civilization to be seen in the younger Rasputins' dwelling, but not that
many more than in most of the houses of the village.
375
Bride, Groom, and Families (2025)
Unlike his elder brother, Volodya Rasputin chose to stay in the outside
world after graduation and became a member of the Avengers under the name
White Wolf. On 3rd July, 2024, he married his fellow Avenger Borogove,
Debbie McCoy, whom he knew since their common school days at Xavier's
School for Gifted Youngsters. His father presented this picture to the
couple on their first wedding anniversary, and they put it on permanent
display at Avengers Mansion, where the ceremony had been held. In a
slightly expressionist line, Piotr Rasputin reinterprets the big family
photograph. In the first row you see the bride and groom with best man
Albert Stark, maid of honor Abigail Summers and bridesmaid Gráinne Madrox.
In the back row, from left to right, are Peter Petrovich Rasputin, his
father (the artist), Nereel, Robert Drake (the bride's foster father),
Trish Tilby, Effie McCoy, and Ben McCoy.
Notes:
Chronology: This story belongs to the alternate timeline of the Days of
Future Twilight, which was first shown in "The Survivor Has a Different
Kind of Scar". It is set ca. 2026, about six years before "Survivor".
The title is obviously taken from Modest Musorgsky's suite, perhaps not
inappropriately since there is no record left of the pictures that inspired
the composer, while this is a guide to a fictional exhibition. The
inspiration for this came from my stay in Berlin late last year, when I
first encountered the more modern type of recorded guided tour (where
numbered codes enable visitors to listen to the texts that interest them in
any order they want) for the first time in the Pergamon Museum and the
Gemäldegallerie. Part of the subplots was inspired by discussing story
ideas with Anita Olin.
Copyright Note: The characters are (c) & TM by Marvel Comics with the
exception of Edna Krabappel and Armin Tamzarian, who are from the Simpsons,
and Cimbota, Hope Cooper, Irene Cooper-Marks (Overdrive), Fyodor and Ivan
Grigorenko, Iruzu, Juma, Gráinne Madrox, Ben McCoy, Debbie McCoy
(Borogove), Josephine 'Effie' McCoy, The Meddlers, Umeme Munroe
(Cloudburst), Niaro, Banu and Svetlana Rasputina, Oleg Rasputin, Vsevolod
Rasputin (White Wolf), Albert Stark, Abigail Summers, Chris Summers
(Lodestone), Daniel Summers (Tribune), Margot, Rudolph and John Wisdom, who
are mine.
This story was first published in _Tales of the Twilight Menshevik: The
Second Collection_, which was produced for the 150th mailing of the MZS-APA
in December 2000. The MZS-APA has a website at
http://users.ev1.net/~skullduggery/
Tilman Stieve
"Quimby. If you were running for mayor, he'd vote for you."
The Simpsons ("Sideshow Bob Roberts")