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 man takes a picture of part of what is set to be the UK's largest street art project on August 19, 2011 in Bristol, England. The See No Evil art project on Nelson Street in Bristol will see several multi story buildings in the street covered with art over the coming days. Organisers hope that the project, which has involved top graffiti artists from all over the world, will become a major tourist attraction for the west country city, often said to the spiritual home of Banksy. (Photo by Matt Cardy/Getty Images)

CANNES, FRANCE - NOVEMBER 03: Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi leaves the conference centre after the first day of the G20 Summit on November 3, 2011 in Cannes, France. World's top economic leaders are attending the G20 summit in Cannes on November 3rd and 4th, and are expected to debate current issues surrounding the global financial system in the hope of fending off a global recession and finding an answer to the Eurozone crisis. (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)

Yuan Zi, a male giant panda and Huan Huan, a female giant panda, share their life inside their enclosure at Zoo Parc De Beauval on January 25, 2012 in Beauval, France. A pair of giant pandas which have been loaned to the zoo by China, where they hope the pair will reproduce and help boost the world's dwindling panda population. (Photo by Franck Prevel/Getty Images)

Japanese researchers have sparked hopes of finding a cure for human baldness after successfully growing hair on hairless mice by implanting follicles created from stem cells, Agence France Presse reports. A picture taken on April 13, 2012 and released by the Tsuji Lab Research Institute for Science and Technology of the Tokyo University of Science shows a hairless mouse with black hair on its back at the laboratory in Noda, Chiba Prefecture. (Photo by Tokyo University of Science via AFP)

“Hi! I'm Joel, I live in a valley in British Columbia's Rocky Mountains, as close to the forest as I could possibly be! I love to run, bike, jump, eat and create and I hope that you enjoy my work as much as I enjoy creating it!” – Joel Robison.

Photo: “Under Peaceful Skies”, 2011. (Photo by: Joel Robison; Source: Flickr)

Students at the Cuba's National Ballet School (ENB) watch a class from outside the classroom in Havana, Cuba, October 12, 2016. Catherine Conley, the first American full-time student at Cuba's prestigious National Ballet School, hopes to gain an edge back home by learning the powerful Cuban style with its dazzling turns and jumps. (Photo by Alexandre Meneghini/Reuters)