"A Disrupted Nap"

There is something universal in this scene — and profoundly funny. A father who would very much like to rest after the hunt, and two cubs who have other plans. The nap of the king of animals will not happen: his lion cubs have decided he is a playground. The title, I must say, did not come from me: it was found by the person who now owns this painting — and no one could have said it better.

For the composition, I opted for a triangular structure whose line of force runs from the lion's mane to the left paw of the cub — a diagonal that concentrates the energy of the scene. The father's reaction — mouth half open, oblique glance — animates what might have been merely a tranquil end-of-day scene. It is this tipping point between rest and chaos that captivated me.

The painting plays on a near-monochrome — ochre, tawny, beige dominate, barely contrasted by the blue shadows of the declining light. It is the lion's head that catches the eye: lit from the front, it emerges from the background in a contrast of warm and cool tones that oil paint renders with great precision.

What I love about this painting is that it says something true about family life — among lions as elsewhere. Majesty does not long resist two determined cubs. And in that resignation of the father, halfway between irritation and tenderness, I recognise something very human.