Ralph Peacock Art

Mark Bradley Schwartz's (US based) "Back View 11" is an original, handmade oil painting that depicts the nude back of a brunette woman sitting in a chair with white fabric delicately...

Elena Burykina's "Transition #9" is an original, handmade oil painting that depicts a woman running her fingers through and gathering her dark hair to reveal her back as she is turne...

Suzy Smith's "Regal" is an original, handmade oil painting that depicts a nude woman in a white Victorian era collar as bright pink and red flowers bloom al...

Pomona reexamines portraits of individuals throughout history to illustrate the premise that history flows into the present in an ever-changing state. And, with each new context, we view people and events through a contemporary lens specific to that moment. Pomona appropriates and contextualizes original portrait elements to create reinvented portraits using technique and patterning that brings a contemporary context and perspective to these historically inspired portraits. My current body of work, Contemporary Histories, explores this phenomena by re-interpreting historical portraiture using a contemporary visual language. It is my intent to create a modern visual lens through which to view these individuals and their legacies, as they continue to flow into the present in ever-changing states. As a keen example of how history changes and morphs over time, I have selected portraits of women who chose an alternate path from the traditional ones prescribed in their times. Some of these individuals overtly stepped outside the traditional roles prescribed for women to realize their goals. Others astutely maneuvered within the social system they lived in to obtain their aspirations. Whether altruistic or nefarious, these women and their actions altered the future cultural landscape. Through a 21st century lens, we view them as women with minds of their own, who made choices to control their own lives and futures. Often, in stark contrast to how they were viewed and how their actions were recorded in their own times. For a modern visual language, a combination of fine and decorative arts has inspired my approach to this subject. Employing several formal contemporary tenets, most notably, rather than place the figure in a 3-dimensional space, as in the originals, the figures reside in flat graphic picture planes of damask designs, repetitive patterns or botanical grounds as modern settings for their modern legacies. These graphic backgrounds symbolize what was historically considered a woman’s proper domain, in particular, gardening and needle crafts, such as; quilting, embroidery and sewing. Formally, unlike the originals, I am working alla prima, rather than with a base grisaille and delicate layers of glazing. While, the patterned and botanical environments, along with gold leaf applications, contemporary compositions and color palettes are formally influenced by a spectrum of 19th - 21st century artists and artisans; from Gustav Klimt and the Wiener Werkstatte to Henri Rousseau, Tamara de Lempicka and Will Cotton. BIO Honora Jacob...

A beautiful portrait oil painting of Juliet by American artist Mary Rosamond Coolidge (1884-1978). Coolidge was a well-known portrait painter and a graduate of Massachusetts Normal A...

Linda Tracey Brandon's (US based) "Here and Now" is an oil painting that depicts a feminine figure juxtaposed with a floral patterning. Linda Tracey Brandon is a nationally recogniz...

Ferdinand Heilbuth: 1826-1889. Well listed very important 19th century French painter. He was born in Germany but lived and painted mostly in France becoming a French citizen in 1876...

Speed was born in London on 13 June 1860, the youngest son of William Speed, a Queens Council of the Middle Temple. Speed had no formal art training, bu...

Colin Poole's "Queen's Departure" is an original, handmade oil painting that depicts a dark haired feminine figure in a beaded headdress with clouds swirling in the background.

Matt Talbert ( US based) "You and I" is an original, handmade oil painting that depicts a couple leaning in to kiss each other as they are cast in the glow of a red light. Artist b...

Alexander Sharpe Ross is an artist of consummate skill and wit. This painting captures a young girl in a doctor's office without permission. A p...

Aixa Oliveras's (US based) "Desvelada" is an original, handmade oil painting that depicts a model laying in bed looking at her cell phone. This is a se...