vendredi 1 avril 2011

Final cut

Yesterday as we were visiting an exhibition in Paris ( Nature et Ideal in the Grand Palais) we saw a painting by Poussin that had been cut in two pieces and put back together. There are numerous stories of paintings cut, sliced, almost turned into puzzles.
Last year I did a copy of a section of  the famous"Les Noces de Canaa" by Veronese , exhibited in the Louvre.
The designer I did this for picked up the subject, we discussed together about the section we would pick up, the size and she also asked me to change the women faces a little bit.
I made the one at the top slighly more juvenile and I borrowed another portrait from Veronese to replace the one at the bottom of the composition.
Here is what I had done.

Casein on canvas ( approx. 175x120cm)

I shipped it over to London and a few weeks later the designer called me and said that she really loved the painting but...
it was too big for the wall where she had decided to hang it up.
She asked me to divide it into three smaller paintings ...saving the two ladies and the servant.
I tried to pick up the better proportions for these new artworks, ordered the stretcher bars , sliced up the big one and made three paintings with one ...
Here they are in my studio in the morning light ...


and here is each of them




It was not the first time I had worked from this extraordinary painting of the venetian master.
This is another copy of a section that is slightly higher in the original composition. On this one I had changed the male figure at the top.

Casein on canvas ( coarse linen, approx 95x180cm)

This one is a detail of the lower part , fascinating...water into wine...

Casein on gessoed canvas ( rabbit skin glue, 70x70cm)








9 commentaires:

  1. Absolutely beautiful work! I love the individual sections of each woman.

    RépondreSupprimer
  2. So beautiful. Fine Work. Congratulations!

    RépondreSupprimer
  3. Thank you very much...I also prefer it in bits and pieces :-)

    RépondreSupprimer
  4. it's really nice- like hearing a bit of each conversation at the party.

    RépondreSupprimer
  5. I like the full size AND the individual portraits. Superb. I actually prefer your version to that of Veronese...his people were a bit too...intense. But, then you know I am a huge fan of you and your work, Pascal.

    Okay - on the technical side....in the last painting, "water into wine", you've done this with casein on canvas gessoed with rabbit skin glue gesso? Has it first been attached to a wood panel? If not, were you looking for a "crackle" effect? I am curious because I've always heard that you can't use rabbit skin glue gesso on canvas - only on rigid substrates. Which I thought was a bummer because I would prefer to always work on rabbit skin gesso rather than acrylic.

    And the last painting (the detail) is my favorite.

    Cleta

    RépondreSupprimer
  6. Yes Cleta, I was looking for the crackle effect. I usually put too thick coats of gesso, I do the painting and the next day I push at the back of the canvas and get the crakles , thin or very visible depending on the thickness of the gesso.
    Thank you once again for your compliments but compared to Veronese I am a student...:-)if he were still alive I would be honored to be allowed to clean up his brushes.

    RépondreSupprimer
  7. Oh yes Lynne, I have a good memory and I remember that you took great care of my brushes and palette iduring the class at Sheri's. I prefer thinking that you just cannot stand "artists" who are not even able to maintain their tools properly...as a matter of fact, since this class I am taking a much better care of my brushes , you taught me this, amongst other things.

    RépondreSupprimer
  8. I love these Pascal! By breaking them into smaller vignettes, they make a more interesting story. Fantastic work!

    RépondreSupprimer