Michel Suret-Canale (XX-XXI) - Le chat étonné

The surprised cat is a work painted on canvasboard, blending oil, acrylic, and ink in a deliberately free and expressive style. The subject, a frontal cat, is treated without a search for descriptive realism: the drawing remains lively, almost childlike, while the color, worked through transparencies and overlays, adds depth and presence.

The gaze, widely open, concentrates all attention. It gives the animal an expression that is both funny, worried, and enigmatic, caught between appearance and symbol. The bold, visible black line structures the figure without enclosing it, allowing the material to breathe.

This painting is part of a contemporary figurative research where familiar motifs serve as a pretext for exploring gesture, spontaneity, and visual memory. The support in cardboard canvas contributes to this deliberate economy of means, inherited from an old studio practice, where painting takes precedence over effect.

The work is offered framed, ready to be hung. In the photo, three stages of its work in progress are shown, allowing an understanding of the artist's technique; everything is done without regret and without a model.