Poppy splendour

Comment

Comment by Maggie von Moos on March 19, 2012 at 11:15pm

Beautiful piece!

Comment by Resident Curator on March 17, 2012 at 6:05pm

Curator’s Comment:  

 

This flower study has very enjoyable competing motifs of linear fragility, bold color, and shallow space.  The allover patterning of the red and orange poppies is enhanced by the edgier application of thicker paint.  Not quite fully impastoed, the surface nonetheless complements the smoothness of the green buds and earthen tone in the background.  Rather that positioning the blossoms in the expected arrangements, gravity is suspected as the large flowers perch on top of thin, winding stems.  The smaller brown acorn like pods add additional interesting textural elements that may or may not be about realism.  I also really like your painting “A Great Catch”, though for quite different formal qualities.   While it could be observed there is also an idealized realism in this piece, the bold diagonals in the composition create a sense of visual unrest in an otherwise mundane scene.  The beautiful blue-violet shadows in the creases of the figures pants is echoed through the shadows in the picture- pooling on the ground, water, and even the figure’s clenched hand.  Oddly enough, the fish he’s holding is the least iridescent object in the dramatic painting.