"Subtropical"

6 x 6"

oil on panel
sold

I've been in an experimental mode with this idea.  On several occasions, I've seen blown up wall murals - some in museums advertising exhibitions, some on sides of buildings, some on television during live concerts or speeches, etc.  It really captures my attention.  So I've been playing with scale and people and it's been great fun, resulting in a study of one I'd like to do a bit larger.

Feel free to tell me what you think.

The mural behind the woman on the bench is Paul Gauguin's Aha Oe Feii? or Are You Jealous?.  Painted in 1892 from his adventures in Tahiti, the title refers to a conversation between two sisters about love and conquests, causing one to say What? Are you jealous? after one claimed she got lucky the night before and the other did not.  

Gauguin went to Tahiti with expectations of paradise and Tahitian culture but discovered those preconceived notions were disappearing fast with Roman Catholic and Protestant missionaries moving in on the natives.  It was then his goal to spend the next twelve years recreating the idyllic world in paintings, engravings and sculptures.