In the Pub Print

This painting is based on Degas’ L’absinthe which was painted in 1876. Degas reinterpreted the traditional Flemish theme of drinkers in a tavern. In his painting, Degas had two miserable ordinary people sitting in a café and ignoring each other. I thought that I would update the painting and instead of two ordinary people looking glum, I would paint three well known figures. On the right hand side, sits Dr. Gachet who was of course Van Gogh’s doctor and who Van Gogh painted sitting in the same pose that I have. Dr Gachet looks bored. In the middle, is a painting of Pope Benedict XVI sitting with his red shoes. The story of the papal red shoes is quite well known and can easily be found on Wikipedia. I chose to paint the Pope because of the artist Raphael. He painted Pope Julius II in a sitting position (rather than kneeling or in profile) and in a contemplative mood. This was the first of papal portraits showing them in this mood. I also chose to paint the Pope sitting and thinking. Finally, I chose to paint Queen Elizabeth II. The face is based on the Lucien Freud very small painting of the Queen where she looked really miserable. So, four artists are represented in my painting, Degas, Van Gogh, Raphael and Lucien Freud. Four artists over a period of 500 years from four different countries inspired me. And basically what I wanted to say was that even if one is famous, sometimes sitting in a pub doesn’t mean that there is always lively conversation. Famous people can be lost for words or perhaps they simply want to have their own thoughts or just stare into their beer.

Print:Giclee on Fine Art Paper

Size:10 W x 8 H x 0.1 D in

Size with Frame:15.25 W x 13.25 H x 1.2 D in

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