Leda and her swans Drawing

Rubens’ superb image of Leda and the Swan has extraordinary sensuality, brilliance of form, and composition, all depicting the power of union. Based on the Greek myth whereby Zeus transforms himself into a swan in order to have sex with Leda, it depicts a rape and the appropriation of the divine feminine by the base masculine, and questions notions of sexual engagement, boundaries, power in union and the relationship between ourselves and the divine. My reworking of Rubens' original painting (1601 and 1602) began almost by accident, when morphing and stretching familiar images digitally, to modify the composition and relationships within the figures. As I pulled and pushed the digital drawing it opened a new relationship between the woman and the swan, somehow it seemed less violent, more reverential, even consensual. So I explored this relationship further with this drawing, before taking it further with oil paint. The pencil and chalk allowed me to play, to draw huge arcs and explore how the figures would twist around each other, before committing to the lengthy process of painting the same idea.

Drawing:Chalk on Paper

Original:One-of-a-kind Artwork

Size:102 W x 59 H x 0.1 D in

Delivery Time:Typically 5-7 business days for domestic shipments, 10-14 business days for international shipments.