Hindu women perform a ritual known as Aarti around a Shivling (a symbol of Lord Shiva) on the last day of Jaya Parvati Vrat festival in Ahmedabad, India, July 10, 2017. (Photo by Amit Dave/Reuters)

Kim Kardashian arrives for the Thierry Mugler exhibition opening at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts in Montreal, Chittenango, United States of America on February 26, 2019. (Photo by Splash News and Pictures)

Kim Yelim, of South Korea, competes in the women's free skate program during the figure skating competition at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Thursday, February 17, 2022, in Beijing. (Photo by Natacha Pisarenko/AP Photo)

Models present creations during the Central St Martins MA catwalk show at London Fashion Week in London, Britain, February 20, 2022. (Photo by Henry Nicholls/Reuters)

People celebrate on a street in the neighborhood of Born, as the state of emergency decreed by the Spanish Government to prevent the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) gets lifted in Barcelona, Spain, May 9, 2021. (Photo by Nacho Doce/Reuters)

A drone view of fishermen unloading fish caught in a net during the sardine run in Scottburgh, South Africa, on June 12, 2024. (Photo by Rogan Ward/Reuters)

A woman takes part in a Vodou ritual at a cemetery in the Haitian capital to celebrate the Day of the Dead in Port-au-Prince, Haiti on November 1, 2024. (Photo by Patrice Noel/ZUMA Press Wire/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

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.