after: John Everett Millais, ʻOpheliaʼ - 1852, National Gallery, London, England. John Everett Millais (1829-1896) was a founding member of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood in Victorian England. This group of reformist artists yearned for the academic teachings of the 14th Century Italian and Flemish painting. A strong emphasis on medieval culture and the close observation of the beauty and complexity of the natural world became their trademark. ʻOpheliaʼ is taken from a scene from Shakespeareʼs ʻHamletʼ. A lovelorn ʻOpheliaʼ drowned herself as a result of unrequited love and the murder of her father.
after: David Hockney, ʻA Bigger Splashʼ - 1967, Private Collection, London, England. David Hockney (born 1937) first rose to prominence as a British Pop Art artist in the early 1960ʼs. A draughtsman, printmaker, photographer and stage designer, Hockney has continually experimented with the new media, particularly photo collage, whilst vigorously defending painting. ʻA Bigger Splashʼ painted in the then new media of acrylic is the most famous example of Hockneyʼs obsession with the depiction of water and his ability to convey cool artifice. The carefully organised composition of rectangular and oblong shapes in flat colours gives way to a chaotic, but on closer examination, schematic design of the water splash.
after: Lucian Freud, ʻLeigh Under a Skylightʼ - 1994, present whereabouts unknown. Lucian Freud (1922-2011), the German-born British painter is acclaimed internationally for his figurative work. Freudʼs expressionistic chiaroscuro techniques illuminate the models from unusual perspectives, depicting the flesh in an honest, uncritical, realist manner. The portrait of Leigh Bowery, a British performance artist, conveys the sitterʼs massive presence. The novel perspective projects Boweryʼs mock imperiousness and ironically seems to give him the thing he most desired - a comical sense of his own immortality.
A special thanks to James Colman for his support, original ideas and help.