Page 66 - Maxim_Painting_Monograph

Stavrogin, acrylic on canvas, 2021
The agony and ecstasy of the search for the truth consist of things done right and things done wrong; the beautiful and ugly come across not as aesthetic categories, but rather as hints of what might be hiding behind a face as les fleurs du mal (the flowers of evil). Except for the face, the painting is covered with red and green brushstrokes in the depths. A grave monotony reigns over a devilish forger of a better and brighter future (Verkhovensky, Stavrogin, etc.)
Unknown Dostoevsky’s Character,
acrylic on canvas, 2022
According to Stefan Zweig, Dostoevsky was volcanic, so his heroes are volcanic too, for each man testifies to the God who created him in the long run. Not one of Dosto- evsky’s characters is at ease in our world; in every case, their sensibilities reach back to the fundamental prob- lems of life. Each character endeavors to review the old problems; each, in turn, though the task bloodies his hands, removes the boundary stones between good and evil; each, in turn, transforms his own chaos into a world. Each possesses the attributes of a servant and a prophet of the new Christ.
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