Alexander Pushkin Death Mask

Alexander Pushkin is a 19th Century Russian poet. Some consider him the Shakespeare of Russian literature. He occupies a prophet like status in Russian culture. This cast of his death mask was given to me many years ago by a friend in Moscow. I have always kept it in my studio since then and have painted it just as it hangs on my wall today. It is extremely unlikely that it is a first generation cast, but I like the possibility, however faint, that it might be, and that there may be Pushkin's skin cells trapped, suspended in the plaster.