Rob Maitland of Australia collects a ball from the ocean during warm-up for the Water Polo by the Sea match between Australia and the United States of America at at Bondi Icebergs on Bondi Beach on January 4, 2012 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)

To produce the images that convey his fatalistic and ironic approach to life, tinged with hope, he needed the environment and knowledge of Mother Russia, oiled with a bit of bribery to certain circus trainers. Enter the Great Russian Bear, the personification of Russia for the last several centuries, onto center stage and into his studio. The bear is recognized as both brutish and cute – Misha was the mascot for the 1980 Olympic Games – and has remained a symbol of Russia since Tsarist times. In 2009 it is the symbol of the United Russia Party.

A hunter holds a shot female pheasant next to his dog “Lola”, a Deutsch female Kurzhaar, during the first day of the Italy hunting season in Castell'Azzara, Tuscany, central Italy, September 20, 2015. The number of hunters in Italy has been decreasing, from 1,701,853 in 1980 to 751.876 in 2007, with a percentage reduction of 55.8%, according to the latest available numbers from the national statistics bureau ISTAT. (Photo by Max Rossi/Reuters)

Military officers look at an AR-10 sniper rifle at LAAD, the biggest military industry expo in Latin America in Sao Paulo, Brazil April 10, 2018. (Photo by Nacho Doce/Reuters)

American actress and model Megan Fox attends The 2021 Met Gala Celebrating In America: A Lexicon Of Fashion at Metropolitan Museum of Art on September 13, 2021 in New York City. (Photo by Theo Wargo/Getty Images)

Miss Alaska Emma Broyles, center, reacts after being crowned Miss America at Mohegan Sun, Thursday, December 16, 2021, in Uncasville, Conn. (Photo by Jessica Hill/AP Photo)

Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton walks past Houston Texans Cheerleaders ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of USA race at the Circuit of the Americas on October 23, 2022 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Ricardo Arduengo/Reuters)

A dog wearing a Captain America costume, walks on a leash at the “Blocao” dog carnival parade in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Saturday, February 18, 2023. (Photo by Silvia Izquierdo/AP Photo)