Petroushka, 1937

Painting by Paraskeva Clark of a crowd of people surrounded by tall buildings watching a puppet show. Two smiling puppets, a man in a tuxedo holding money bags and a police officer in a blue uniform, dangle another puppet wearing a striped shirt and suspenders over the top of a red box.

Paraskeva Clark, Petroushka, 1937, oil on canvas, 122.4 x 81.9 cm, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa.

Petroushka, which Clark considered her most important painting, represents her first attempt at a large figural composition with political content and exemplifies the direction in which she wished to develop her work. It brings together Clark’s childhood memories of puppet theatre in the streets of Saint Petersburg and her response to a violent clash between police and striking steelworkers in Chicago in which five workers were killed.

Gallery

Petroushka - Art Canada