Figs.
2022
Oil on poplar panel
13 x 18 cm (5.1 x 7.1″), framed dimensions: 28 x 33 cm (11 x 13″)
Set in a bespoke Dutch-style black polished wooden frame.
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The figs are painted in a raking light, bringing out the red flesh and seeds so typical of this fruit. The use of a ‘deep’ background gives a calm feel to the painting. The depth of the background was created by transparent glazes of umbers and Kassel Earth, a peat-rich pigment mined in the region around Kassel (west-Germany). This pigment was popular with 17th C Dutch painters including Rembrandt as it allowed them to create rich backgrounds. Afghan Lapis Lazuli, used here to paint the blue skin of the figs, was a highly prized pigment for centuries and due to the cost of the mining, transport and grinding of this semi-precious rock, was only used for the most important areas in a painting (cf. Mary’s robes). The deep red of the fig flesh was painted using varying mixtures of the traditional pigments madder lake and vermillion.
