Satyr Mourning a Nymph (after Piero di Cosimo)
Satyr Mourning a Nymph
Category: Paintings
Artist: Chris Gollon
Subject: Being Human
Date of Work: Jan-March
Year of Work: 2009
Media: acrylic on canvas
Size: 36" x 48"
Private collection, UK. This painting was produced by Chris Gollon while he was a Fellow and First Artist in Residence at the Institute of Advanced Study, University of Durham (Jan - Mar 2009). It forms part of the exhibition 'Being Human', which is accompanied by a full colour catalogue, with texts by the other Fellows and by art historian Tamsin Pickeral.
"Hands feature prolifically with enormous and emotive impact, balancing the composition or providing the structural focus in many of his works, particularly evident in Angels Without Wings, 2008. His hands are impossibly large and frequently primitive in rendering, far from lovely in traditional terms, but possessed of enormous raw beauty and feeling. Most poignant in this respect is a recent work, A Satyr Mourning Over A Nymph, 2009, made after a painting of the same subject by Piero di Cosimo (c. 1462 – 1516). The Satyr’s huge, rough hands cradle with infinite and exquisite tenderness the small, delicate head of the dead nymph. It is a passage painted with profound understanding and compassion, bringing together two polarities, which reflects the artist’s frequent use of dramatic contrast in both physical and emotional terms seen on different levels within his work." Extract from catalogue text by Tamsin Pickeral.
Tamsin Pickeral is an art historian and author. Her recent books explore the role of art in its wider context, in particular how it reflects the developments and trends of cultures from pre-historic times to the present. Pending publication, her latest project is The Nude, while other published works include: The Dog: 5,000 Years of the Dog in Art, (Merrell, 2008), The Horse: 30,000 Years of the Horse in Art (Merrell, 2006), Fifty Paintings You Should Know (Prestel, 2009), Van Gogh (Flametree, 2007), Impressionism, (Flametree, 2007) and Turner, Whistler, Monet (Flametree, 2005).
Being Human catalogue (cover)
For further information on how to purchase the catalogue click here.
