Show all images on one page	#003950 Title: Alice in Wonderland Artist: Smirnova Vera Size: 19x24x5.5 Size (inches): 7.5x9.5x2.25 Price : $1950 SOLD!

This is Vera Smirnova production. She is a Palekh artist who is at the top of her field. Many artists try to emulate her work. This original work shows that her skill with the tempera medium is immense, by her depiction of the characters and their faces. It is rare that an artist has such a good blend of skill, talent, and technical knowledge, which she excels at with every new work she paints.
Here the artist has drawn various characters from Lewis Carroll's classic tale “Alice in Wonderland”. In the middle of the composition we can Alice holding a flamingo that has been used as a mallet in the game of croquet. Above her head the Cheshire Cat lies on a branch of the big tree. From the right of Alice the artist has drawn the tea party in the Hat's house. From the left of the Cheshire Cat we can see the Caterpillar who smokes the hookah sitting on the big mushroom. The left upper corner shows the magnificent palaces of the Wonderland while the right bottom corner depicts the Mouse crossing the pool of Alice's tears. In the left bottom corner we can see the violent Queen of Hearts who orders to chop off the three card gardeners' heads to her soldiers. A little below Alice the artist has drawn the White Rabbit who trumpets and invites everyone to play croquet, and to the right of him the Mock Turtle and the Gryphon are depicted.
The composition is an utter delight. The palette is diverse and holds a wide range of colors. Smirnova is able to tightly compose the characters to give the scene maximum efficiency, without looking crowded or bunched up. She works in details with gold and aluminum paint that are fine and make the scene radiate with a tremendous glow. These lines are so thin that they give the characters and their surroundings the life-like clarity within this stylized world.
The box's sides are adorned with a rich gold leafy pattern. In the middle of each of the box's sides Smirnova has drawn a scene on the tale's theme using tempera paints. On the box's front side we can see the playing cards surrounded with a bush of pink roses; the left side shows Alice and the playing cards; on the right side Smirnova has painted the White Rabbit who trumpets his pipe, and a bush of white roses; and the rear side depicts the Cheshire Cat peeping out from the playing cards.
The box is constructed from paper-mache. Black lacquer is used to paint the exterior of the box while red lacquer completes the interior of the work. A hinge is fastened to the left of the scene, and the box rests on four legs. The work is signed with the artist's name, Palekh, and the year of 2008.