Pablo Soroya - Humans, Original oil painting, XXL Size, No reserve, Contemporary Figurative Art Expressionist

The Divine Comedy — Original Oil Painting on Canvas, 122 × 97 cm

An intense, uncompromising exploration of the human condition, this original oil painting brings together fragments of human experience in a world where beauty and grotesquerie, vulnerability and aggression, pleasure and suffering exist side by side. In the tradition of the memento mori, we are reminded to engage with life because whatever the present mood, circumstance, or status, the same end awaits us all.

Rather than presenting a single narrative, the painting creates a theatre of humanity. Its characters seem caught in different moments of existence, their expressions and gestures suggesting private dramas that remain partly beyond our understanding. The result is a deliberately unsettled encounter with the human figure: we recognise ourselves in these faces, yet their juxtaposition makes familiar identities strange.

The fragmented composition is essential to its meaning. Against expanses of deep black, the figures appear as vivid, connected episodes, as though glimpses of an enormous human drama have been assembled into a single, unstable whole. The intense reds, ochres, flesh tones and contrasting blues and greens heighten the emotional charge, while the abrupt transitions between figures resist a comfortable or definitive reading.

What makes this painting rewarding is precisely its refusal to tell the viewer what to think. Its characters may be strangers to one another, yet together they suggest the contradictions we share. Each encounter with the painting offers the possibility of a different connection, an uncomfortable recognition or an unexpected moment of humour. It is a painting that invites repeated contemplation and new readings.

This is a substantial, original work for a collector drawn to expressive figurative painting with psychological depth and a challenging subject. It is intended to hold attention as an independent work of art, not merely to decorate a wall. Its scale, visual intensity and layered imagery make it a compelling focal point in a contemporary interior or a personal collection concerned with the human figure and the more ambiguous aspects of human experience.

Technical Specifications:

Medium: Professional Fine-Art Oils on Heavyweight Canvas.

Painted Surface: 122 x 97 cm. Total surface: 130 x 105 cm, leaving ample margins for stretching.

Execution: 100% freehand physical artifact. No digital projections, AI generation, grids, or mechanical transfers.

Authentication: Signed by the artist; accompanied by a signed Certificate of Authenticity.

About the Artist & Provenance

Pablo Soroya holds a PhD in Fine Arts from the University of Seville and is a professional painter and sculptor with a 47-year career. His work hangs in the permanent collection of the Ikeda Museum of 20th Century Art (Japan) and private estates worldwide.

Notable Collections & Commissions Include:

Literature & Thought: Giuliano da Empoli (Commissioned portrait: Head & Hands of Giuliano da Empoli—political scientist, senior advisor to Italian prime ministers, cultural advisor, and author of the international bestseller The Wizard of the Kremlin).

Tech & Industry: John Warnock (Co-Founder, Adobe Systems).

Entertainment: Rod Stewart (Bel Air estate commissions).

European Nobility: Princess Bianca von Hanau-Shaumberg; Count Bernd Bagusat.

Public Art: LinkNYC initiative (displayed across 4,000+ screens in New York City).

Premium Shipping

Sent rolled in a High-Density Reinforced PVC Tube. This hard casing is waterproof and crushproof, protecting the canvas in transit.

Seller Terms & Return Policy

Return Protocols: As per Catawiki policy, the buyer assumes 100% liability for the artwork during return transit.

Packaging Requirements: If initiating a return, roll the canvas in its original hard-shelled tube. Fully insured, tracked shipping is mandatory. If damaged in return transit, platform policy cancels the return and remits payout to the artist.