Mary Edwards Wertsch
Portraits
First 4 portraits: The babushkas of Eastern Europe, identified by their creased, ruddy faces, colorful headscarves, and eyes that have seen everything and don't miss much, are a vanishing breed. To paint a babushka's face is to publish a tale of back breaking toil, tragic loss, fleeting moments of love and joy, and, most of all, iron will.
Acrylic on canvas 12" x 12" This babushka claimed to be the birth mother of Vlaldimir Putin. Her story: He was the illegitimate son of a married man. When she later married another man, a Georgian farmer just out of the Soviet Army, the two did not get along. She sent the boy, now around 11, to his grandparents in Leningrad. They soon died, and the boy was sent to an orphanage where he was quickly adopted by the couple Putin referred to as his parents. Putin denies this version of events.
Acrylic on canvas 12"x12"
Acrylic on canvas 12" x 12" This babushka claimed to be the birth mother of Vlaldimir Putin. Her story: He was the illegitimate son of a married man. When she later married another man, a Georgian farmer just out of the Soviet Army, the two did not get along. She sent the boy, now around 11, to his grandparents in Leningrad. They soon died, and the boy was sent to an orphanage where he was quickly adopted by the couple Putin referred to as his parents. Putin denies this version of events.