RUSLAN AND LUDMILA
Oil on canvas, 36 x 48 inches, 2002
(Private collection, Lake Forest, Florida)
This painting is an illustration to Alexander Pushkin's remarkable 1820 poem, Ruslan and Ludmila, particularly to its prologue, in which the author provides a kind of mini-catalogue of Russian folk motifs. The texts below give the original version and its translation by Walter Arndt; as can be seen, the painting addresses almost every line of the introduction:
Alexander Pushkin: RUSLAN AND LUDMILA
An oak tree greening by the ocean; Translated by Walter Arndt |
У
лукоморья дуб зелёный; Александр С. Пушкин |
In addition to these illustrations, several episodes from the later parts of the poem are also included in the painting: Ruslan on his horse, facing the giant head, which he will defeat to obtain the magic sword, and Ruslan's visit to the cave of a hermit; in the right upper corner is the colorful palace of Chernomor. The painting was commissioned by a Russian friend who wanted to be able to share this catalogue of Russian folk motifs with his American grandchildren. Therefore, some personal information (names of the grandchildren carved into the trunk of the tree) was incorporated into the composition. An interesting touch are the fragments of the Russian text written on the branches of the tree around each of the corresponding images, providing, together with the shortened text attached to the front of the tree, a reminder for the owner what each detail describes and what it sounds like in Russian. A careful observer will undoubtedly notice some similarity between the man sitting at the table across from the cat and the author of the poem, Alexander Pushkin.