Die Unerwartete Gäste

Different figures fill this painting called ‘Die Unerwartete Gäste’ (The unexpected guest). Who do you think is unexpected? And what makes you think that?

Now that you have decided who is unexpected, we can go a step further! Who do you thick is the guest of honour and why?

Everything you see on the painting, could exist in the real world. Apart from the faces, everything looks normal; the clothes of the figures, the plates, the little cake, the cats, the flowers, the table and the landscape on the background. Yet the whole painting has something mystical. But why that is, is hard to see.

A painting that could be possible, but looks unlikely is called magical realistic. Magical realism is different than surrealism. The famous painting of the melted clocks by Dalí could never happen in reality for example.

What do you think is going on? You could think of many stories about this scene. About why is the woman on the left appears to be blushing; why the man in the middle seems to be uneasy; what the figure on the right is holding and what the cats are doing.

Yuri Rodekin always makes his paintings a bit strange. You can never tell what is going on exactly on his paintings. There isn’t a right answer. Yuri says that you, the viewer, hold the key for its secret. The story you create is right. Someone else might think of something completely different, and that is right too.

Yuri has said this about his paintings: ’I like artworks that do not speak, do not shout but hold the silence more. There is a quiet tension inside which does not promise but hides the most important secret.’ It is up to you if he managed it with this painting. At least it is quiet, none of the figures seem to be talking.

There are more questions that arise from this painting. Not only what is going on, but also when it was made. Was it made last year or in the ‘30’s?

Yuri was born in Russia, but he lived and worked in different places in Europe. First he moved to Italy and later on he settled in Austria. So it also hard to decide where the painting is set.

If you look closely at the fruit, you can see the background shining through. Is it real fruit? Or maybe made of glass?

Like a couple other paintings in the LAM museum, this work has no frame. A frame can make a big difference. A sleek aluminium frame gives it a totally different look as to an old-fashioned golden frame. What kind of frame would you place around this painting?