Well it may be a month late, but I have finally completed my (Dutch Master inspired) #40to40 picture. My husband suggested that as part of my quest toward the big 40 that I produce a new picture in roughly 40 hours. The idea for this painting was a slight departure for me as it is the first time I have used a collaged background to my work.
I based the design of this piece on the popular Dutch tradition of still life which uses a dark background to illuminate the floral arrangements. The great popularity of these floral images has made them so familiar that we tend to look through them to the things they represent. We almost forget that the pictures like Fantin's are not spontaneous creations, but complex artefacts indebted to a centuries-old tradition of Western painting. If you are interested in this art form I can recommend the National Gallery book a closer look at Still Life and Nature Morte (contemporary artists reinvigorate the still-life tradition) by Michael Petry.
There is also still time to see an exhibition (6th April - 29th August) called 'Dutch Flowers' exploring the evolution of Dutch flower painting over the course of two centuries of Dutch flower paintings on at the National Gallery.
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| Close up of my collage flowers |
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