The first prototype of the HIRIKO electric car, during the global launch of Hiriko Driving Mobility, at the EU Commssion headquarters on January 24, 2012 in Brussels, Belgium. (Photo by Geert Vanden Wijngaert/Getty Images)

A sign is posted in front of the new Yoga Room at San Francisco International Airport's terminal two on January 26, 2012 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

A worker polishes an Oscar statuette at R.S. Owens & Company during a media demonstration February 9, 2012 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

The interior of the first class cabin of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner is seen during a media tour on February 12, 2012 in Singapore. (Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images)

A surfer heads out at Coldingham Bay an inlet in the North Sea on February 15, 2012 in Coldingham, Scotland. (Photo by Jeff J. Mitchell/Getty Images)

“Supanova Pop Culture Expo (Supanova) is a fan convention focusing on science fiction and fantasy film and TV, comic books, anime, gaming and collectables. It is held annually in the Australian cities of Sydney, Brisbane, Perth and Melbourne”. – Wikipedia

Photo: Terminator and Wolverine pose for photos during the National Cosplay Championships as part of the Supanova Pop Culture Expo at the Dome at Olympic Park on June 19, 2010 in Sydney, Australia. Cosplayers and comic book and sci-fi fans from across the state gathered to meet like-minded folk and attend guest panels with the stars of some of the popular television shows and publications of the genre. (Photo by Sergio Dionisio/Getty Images)

A child, from Municipal school Parana, poses during the project “Fencing School” in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, March 30, 2016. Children in Rio de Janeiro lift their sights and their swords to new idols, as a round of fencing workshops takes to public schools. The International Fencing Federation, together with the Brazilian and state federations, will reach 40 public schools in March and April. The aim is to whip up a following for the Olympic sport, little known in the soccer-mad nation, as Rio sets the stage for the Summer Games in August. (Photo by Sergio Moraes/Reuters)

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.