IGOR TULIPANOV (Russian, b. 1939). Flight of the Butterfly. Pastel on paper. 40 x 30 inches (101.6 x 76.2 cm). Monogramm...

Description

IGOR TULIPANOV (Russian, b. 1939)
Flight of the Butterfly
Pastel on paper
40 x 30 inches (101.6 x 76.2 cm)
Monogrammed right of center

The contemporary surrealist artist Tupilanov was born in St. Petersburg. He began his training at the Polytechnical Institute,where his artistic talent was soon realized and he was thus transferred to the Nikolai Akimov Institute. Tupilanov worked initially as a stage designer and gradually moved into painting. In 1980 he moved to New York, and shortly thereafter held his first major exhibition in San Francisco. Tupilanov was influenced by Bosch and Van Eych, and considers his work "Symbolic Naturalism" more than Surrealism. He has exhibited at the Chelsea Art Museum (From Leningrad to St. Petersburg - 25 years of art, 2003) and the Museum of Contemporary Russian Art. Known for his dreamlike pieces, Tulipanov's beginnings in stage design are still evident as an underlying theme in his work.

A central butterfly issues diagonals upon which flowering vines have entwined. Two female faces in profile peer in from the edges and are covered in floral patterns. Flowers bloom from the lower portion of the work, and a small frog and a pair of beetles keep the company of the butterflies.

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