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A WHALE OF A TALE
Oil on canvas, 36 x 48 inches, 1987
(Private collection, Miami, Florida)
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A Whale of a Tale was painted to create a new version of the well-known motif of a whale carrying an entire village (town) on its back. It is an important part of the Russian folk tale A Little Hunchback Pony and a common topic of Russian lacquer boxes. In this interpretation, the whale becomes much more connected to the surrounding land; it becomes almost unrecognizable. Many viewers have difficulty seeing the whale, even though the artist even included visual hints to inform them about the topic. For instance, a careful viewer will notice that the forest covering the hills on the other side of the channel, spells the word "whale." The name of the town, written on the board behind the bench (unfortunately, illegible here) gave the following information: The Town of Elahw. Even these hints could not reveal the whale to those who view the painting piece by piece rather than at once, to get the overall impression first, and only later to look at details. Since the painting belongs to the early period of the artist's work, it is not populated, it includes only two solitary figures standing at whale's head (probably a married couple taking possession of their wonderful palace) and the figure of the painter, who will reappear from time to time in other paintings of the artist.
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