St. Nicholas the Big Cross

Oscar Rabin, the informal leader of the Lianozovo Group, was the first nonconformist artist to have his art work shown abroad. While a number of his dissident contemporaries worked with abstraction, Rabin's method of dissent was primarily narrative. In his paintings one does not encounter man, but rather one sees the remnants of his presence through the artist's concentration on the objects and spaces of everyday life. The present work shows the blend of old and new that defined the lives of many Russians during the Soviet era, while simultaneously making a political statement by placing the cross, representing the religious tradition of 'old Russia', close to the picture plane so that it dominates over the distant Soviet apartment blocks of the 'new Russia.'
This work will be included in the forthcoming catalogue raisonné prepared by Michele and Marc Ivasilevitch, A&C-Projects.