Show all images on one page	#001810 Title: Fantastic Catch Artist: Molodkin Daniil Size: 24x18x6 Size (inches): 9.5x7x2.5 Price : $1200 SOLD!

Daniil Molodkin from Mstera painted this exceptional box. Daniil is one of the most popular Russian lacquer artists in America. The fresh view on the world that he spins into every one of his works, is a marvelous portrayal of not only his creativity, but of his desire to make the world a more beautiful place. He shows us a side of this world that is below our feet. In the grasses there are innumerable insects and tiny animals doing things we never see. By painting them, and fictional grasspeople into an enlarged grassy setting, he provides his audience a twist or curve in logical thinking. This forces us to reexamine how we look at things everyday, which we take for granted: like a large grassy field.
The composition is called "Fantastic Catch". It shows gnomes and Lilliputians that look like ordinary Russian peasants doing their daily routine. In the foreground two fishermen have caught the enormous pike, and now they try to drag it out on the lakeside. A little above the artist depicts the beautiful skillfully painted parrot sitting on the branch. In the right upper corner the gnome rides the huge bug that drags the carriage filled with ripe apples. The size of each apple is equal to the gnome's full height. He wands his way to the apple counting point located on the opposite bank. Another gnome goes ahead him and bowls the apple. In the left upper corner there is the big tree where gnomes have arranged the apple counting point. One gnome sits on the ground floor and counts apples, while another one sits on the top of the tree and observes the process of apple transportation using the spyglass. Nearby the woman launders her clothes.
The composition is composed of great number of different elements including gnomes, animals, insects, and plants. Each element is painted in tremendous details. Tiny details are everywhere from the beautiful, multicolored parrot, insects and the huge pike to the costumes of gnomes, and various plants on which the picturesque landscape is based. The palette that the artist uses a wide array of blues, greens, and earthtones to convey the natural setting in the scene. Gold as always, is used to enhance the details in the box and to fully bring the colors to life.
The box is made out of paper-mache. Black lacquer covers the exterior and red lacquer covers the interior of the box. A gold foliage pattern frames the composition, and this same pattern (only accented with aluminum paints) decorates the sides of the box. The lid is hinged from the left of the composition, and the box rests on four legs. At the bottom of the composition the artist writes Mstera, the title, and signs his name.