Lot 79131: Green Lizard

IGOR TULIPANOV (Russian, b. 1939) Green Lizard Pastel on paper 40 x 30 inches (101.6 x 76.2 cm) Monogrammed top right 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 green lizard sits above a black field decorated with scrolling vines and flowering lilies, pansies, daisies and columbines. Thin rainbow ribbons are tied with string and hung from above, much like scenery is "flown" in from a theater's rafters.

40in x 30in x 0in

Pastel on paper