Elephant

Two bearded travellers ride in a copper basket on the back of a fantastical elephant, one of them looking through a spyglass. The elephant wears a saddlecloth with a sun face, and around them float small birds, a balloon and odd brass instruments. Elena Matsegora used to teach drawing, and she paints like an illustrator of old books: lots of small details (cogs, a birdcage, a line of handwriting across the sky) in warm terracotta, gray and soft blue. Children love it, and so do grown-ups who still read Jules Verne.

• Artist: Elena Matsegora
• Medium: Oil on canvas
• Size: 55 × 45 cm (21.7 × 17.7 in), height × width
• Year: 2020
• Original: one of a kind, signed by the artist