After One of Matisse's Odalisques

Oil on Canvas Board 10 x 14 in (27 x 35 cm)

'Odalisques' -- a favourite subject of Matisse.  He left his collection of them to Picasso when he died.  I enjoy Matisse's bold use of colour and asymmetrical compositions.

Flower Dance

Oil on Canvas 27 x 41 cm

This is a copy of a painting by the early 20th century French artist, Jean Puy (1876 - 1960), which I just completed for an atelier in Bordeaux. Born in Lyon, Jean Puy moved to Paris and exhibited at the Salon d'Automne in 1905.  A hostile critic gave the name 'Fauvists' ('the wild beasts') to the painters exhibiting, and the label 'Fauvism' stuck.  Puy befriended and was influenced by Matisse, Derain, Marquet, but was never more than mildly 'Fauvist.'  He loved life and painted in bold joyful colours.  At times he used simplified forms and produced an effect of blithe naivety. 

Copper Kettle, Apple and Chain

Oil on Canvas Board 8.75 x 10.5 in (22 x 27 cm)

My contribution to the Rookie Painters February challenge.  We were presented with a ravishing couple of photos to choose from -- objects sensitively selected and cunningly arranged to form a striking composition.  An engrossing challenge, indeed.  I found the reflections in the copper kettle and of course all those links in the chain, the most difficult.

Unicorn Cushion

Oil on canvas board 9,5" x  12"

Was the unicorn of legend based on memories of an extinct Eurasian rhinoceros?  If so, that's a far cry from it's acceptance as a symbol of purity and grace, an animal which could only be captured by a virgin.

Fantasy Landscape

Oil on Canvas Frame 13 x 16 in (33 x 41 cm)

I think underpainting in yellow ochre and burnt sienna helped the illusion of reflecting water, here.  Must experiment more with underpainting colours.

Dwellers in a Spanish Antique Shop

Oil on Canvas Board 10.5 x 14 in (27 x 35 cm)

This is a window looking in on the dwellers of the antique shop.  They look out on a narrow, sloping street in the old Gotic quarter of Barcelona, a street down which the thirteen-year old Visigothic Christian girl, Eulalia, was rolled in a knife-studded barrel on the 12th February, 304; before submitting to crucifixion, breast amputation and, finally, decapitation -- the price exacted by the Emperor Diocletian, enraged at her steadfast refusal to renounce Christianity.

Or so goes the legend.  Many statues and streets in the city are named after her.
P.S. The original for last post's 'Backside'? -- an early work by Picasso, in the Picasso Museum, Barcelona.

Backside

Oil on Canvas Board 7 x 9.5 in (18 x 24 cm)

The original, a postcard of which I used to paint this, is an early work by a famous 20th century artist. Hints;  He was born in Spain but lived mostly elsewhere. He worked in tandem with Georges Braque for a time, then took another path.  At one point in his career he obsessively collected African masks and figurines.