"Maximus"
Oil on canvas
The first encounter with a lion is a moment that marks you for life. Whether on a photographic safari or a hunt, crossing the gaze of the king of the savanna leaves no one unscathed.
With each new painting, I ask myself: what is the purpose of this piece, what message will I convey, what emotion do I want to transmit?
I firmly believe that we all carry within us the memory of our ancestors — an instinct for survival, a hunter's instinct, that gives us this ancestral fear of the predator. I am transfixed by the lion; I feel a primal fear mingled with fascination, and that is precisely what I want to convey in this painting. I want to create a silent dialogue between man and beast, to find in its gaze that unreasoning dread.
I wish to give my representation of the lion in all its majesty and savagery. The image of the ultimate predator — it must be at once beautiful and menacing. This duality is found in the opposition between warm tones and cool tones. The composition is raw, essential: a portrait, without embellishment, in chiaroscuro. The gaze is piercing; one must lose oneself in it and be unable to escape.
In the end, I detail more precisely the eyes, the muzzle, and the jaws. The rest of the head loses focus in order to capture the viewer's gaze all the more.
The title of this painting is "Maximus", superlative of Magnus in Latin, meaning the greatest.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=512CPv-zVCw
I — Original Work
"Maximus"
Original work sold — Private Collection
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II — Canvas Editions
Numbered art print, hand-signed by the artist. On 375 gsm matte canvas. Comes with a certificate of authenticity and the artist's double signature.
Shipping: rolled in a tube or framed ready to hang.
