Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Ukrainian Memoir



                                                     An original oil painting on stretched canvas
                                                     28x22" unframed
                                                    

     The sunflower is native to the Americas.  The Aztecs even used the sunflower as
a symbol of their solar deity.  But the sunflower now has a memorable history in
Europe as well.  I can never see sunflowers without thinking of the famous series
of sunflower paintings by van Gogh, and the brilliant ways director David Lean used
sunflowers in his production of Doctor Zhivago.  And it is also the flower of Ukraine.


     This is a fairly, representational painting of giant sunflowers. The ceramic
water pitcher and oranges, and the somewhat heightened color, all help to give it a
bit of an old-world feel, and the oranges also help to give the composition a useful
visual scale, for viewers to judge the size of the sunflowers.
     Three sunflowers, three oranges, and six fallen petals: I wonder what a
numerologist would say about that?

                                                            (click on image to enlarge)


      Giclee fine-art prints of this painting are available.

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