Singeries

 A Singerie is, according to french dictionnaries" a mural decoration, painting or tapestry whose main figures or subjects are monkeys". The most wellknown reference of this type of ornamentation is the Grande Singerie de Chantilly painted by the uncontested master of this specialty , Huet, and recently restaured .
It is full of humor and of the playfull irony that characterises our Louis XV style.
It is one of the most original expressions of a time period and of its mood. The theme itself and the distance and reflexion it implies on human behaviors and attitudes , but also the  technique used by the ornemanists of the time are evidences of their thought process and of the distance they could take on their own practice.


They are usually very well executed but also full of freedom and inventiveness...I have tried to keep this spirit alive in my copies or recreation of Singeries...

This is the first version of a singerie that I called the "The flute player"(casein on gessoed linen)

Second version...

...this one was painted on paper instead of gessoed canvas like the first two...

...last version at a slightly smaller scale.

First version of another singerie I also painted several times for different clients, this one is called "The Dancers"...

....another version on thick linen, lime based paint background and quite bigger ( 6 ft high)...

...detail of central motif...

...on paper...

"Singes musiciens" also quite big ...

...detail of central figures...

...ornament on the right side...

...and on the left.

This one was called "Le Marchand d'Orvietan",painted on paper glued up on canvas...

...detail.

This one had no name and belonged a series of four ...

...casein on paper.

"Le singe au Violon"...

Here is a pair of singeries painted on silver wax over gesso,.

This one is called "Le Dresseur". It is painted with oils on  gessoed canvas glued up in a boiserie that was done by my friends from Elusio.