Antonio Fuertes (1970) - Peren op zwart laken

Nice contemporary still life, painted by the Spanish/Dutch artist Antonio Fuertes (born in Spain, 1970).

Antonio Fuertes paints in the manner of the old masters, layer upon layer, at least 15 layers. It gives a beautiful depth. The color nuances in the black are very artfully done, giving a realistic rendering of a black cloth.
The pears pop off the canvas, also very beautifully painted.

Canvas, supported by panel.

50x205cm

About the artist:

Antonio Fuertes
Fuertes (1970, Andalusia - Spain) studied visual arts at the 'Universidad Complutense' in Madrid. In his final year, before earning his degree, he studied at the Higher School of the Arts in Utrecht.

Light forms the through-line in Fuertes’ oeuvre: ‘I often imagine my canvases as the stage in a theater. The light has the role of director and determines what will happen on stage and what the actors will do. Thus light brings the canvas to life.’

As ‘actors’ the painter stages well-known elements of classical still lifes on his stage, especially fruit: ‘During my youth in Andalusia there was always fruit everywhere; oranges, lemons, figs, mandarins, pears, and so on. My father had a 'huerta', a kind of orchard, where the finest and tastiest fruit came from. For me it was a true paradise.’

The technique he uses is in line with that of classical master painters from the Golden Age such as Rembrandt, Velázquez and Ribera. By applying many layers of paint—at least 18—on top of each other, the work grows gradually, with the contrast between light and dark always as a starting point. For the lower layers the artist uses only black and white. He adds color only in the final layers.

Sometimes he even chooses to keep the painting tonal, and a still life in black, white and the grays in between is the delicate result.

These many layers of paint and the relief in the paint surface together create the depth that is so characteristic of Fuertes’ still lifes.