TOBIAS AND RAPHAEL Painting

Available for commissioned work ANDRÉ DURAND (born 1947 in Ottawa, Canada) is a painter working in the European Hermetic tradition. Rubens, Titian, Michelangelo and Velázquez influence his painting. Although Durand is perhaps best known in Britain and the Commonwealth for his allegorical portraits, such as Princess Diana as FORTUNA, he achieved international artistic acclaim for his official portraits of SAINT JOHN PAUL II (1983-2004) and the 14th DALAI LAMA (1983, 1989). In 1986 Durand painted the ECCE EQUUS, four large compositions inspired by the Book of Revelation, painted to commemorate the fortieth anniversary of the United Nations Children's Fund in the Year of Children's Rights and benefit UNICEF. Unveiled by Jeanne Sauvé, the Governor General of Canada at the National Arts Centre. “The powerful message conveyed by these four major works cannot be ignored if we are to offer the children of a tomorrow a better world in which to live”. Durand's portrait of the Irish novelist ELIZABETH BOWEN (1972) is one of the most popular portraits in London's National Portrait Gallery. In 1970 Durand painted a series of pictures inspired by the dancers of the Royal Ballet. It is nevertheless Durand's extraordinary mythological narratives that demonstrate his profound understanding of the myths and rituals of both Classical and Christian traditions. These are an ever-present undercurrent of his work.