Emmanuelle Pellet - Le sujet

Emmanuelle Pellet - The Subject
Acrylic painting on cardboard
Height: 20 cm, Width: 21 cm
Unique piece, hand-painted, signed and numbered
The work was published in a youth album/CD, The Girl, by Jean de La Fontaine, which is included with the shipment

About the work:

The subject features an enigmatic figure, as if drawn from an ancient tale. Its frontal gaze, the delicately made-up face, and the fine moustache give it a singular presence, while a small animal nestled in the folds of its clothing introduces a note of mischief.
Beside it stands a miniature castle or fantastical cathedral. The whole is woven with a network of trees with winding branches, like the veins of a natural stained glass window.
The work is distinguished by the meticulous execution and the attention to detail, evoking the taste of the Dutch Masters of the Golden Age. The gaze invites the viewer to move from one detail to another: the texture of curly hair, the nuances of the face, the ornaments of the garment, the small animal, the stones and the arrows of the architecture.
With its blend of portrait, fairy tale, symbolism, and whimsy, The Subject offers a narrative painting, yet deliberately enigmatic. A work where the virtuosity of the detail invites less to seek an explanation than to enter a singular world, suspended between an antique portrait, a fantastical imaginary, and contemporary rêverie.
An ideal work for a collection seeking a painting of character, at once refined, narrative, and unconventional.

About the artist:

Historian of art by training, Emmanuelle Pellet studied at the École du Louvre and then at the Sorbonne, before passing the Agrégation in plastic arts (3rd place). After several years of teaching, she joined the Louvre Museum as head of educational outreach.
Her career today enriches a personal body of work where mastery of painting dialogues with a deep culture of imagery and art history. Her creations have been exhibited in galleries in Paris, London, Singapore and Mauritius, and have been the subject of numerous publications. They are now part of private collections in Europe, North America, Asia and the Indian Ocean.