Spanish Still Life,1986. Oil on canvas, 107 cm x 107 cm approx
This is a quick, experimental student painting heavily influenced by my visit to Spain in the summer of 1985. I’ve used the square format that I favoured for the charcoal drawing, Black and White Fans.
I was playing with the shapes of various objects on my dressing table and the spaces around them. I used dramatic heavy shadows and what I considered to be Spanish colours. The octagonal casket (bottom right) was bought in Granada and has a tessellating tile pattern on the lid.
For the colour scheme I was definitely inspired by Francisco di Goya’s painting ‘The Parasol , which I had seen in the Museo Prado, Madrid.
The Parasol by Francisco di Goya, 1777. Oil on linen
