Christina Major’s "Audrey - I Believe" is a mesmerizing contemporary portrait that blends realism with expressive text overlays, creating a visually and emotionally compelling artwork. This 84 x 57-inch painting captures the timeless grace of Audrey Hepburn, her luminous features emerging from a soft, ethereal palette of cool blues, warm peaches, and gentle neutrals. Layered over her serene expression are hand-painted phrases inspired by Hepburn’s wisdom and humanitarian legacy, adding depth and narrative to the composition. The interplay between the hyperrealistic portraiture and textured text invites viewers to engage with both the subject’s beauty and the empowering messages woven into the piece, making it a captivating addition for collectors of figurative art, contemporary paintings, and pop culture iconography.
Christina Major is a portrait painter interested in the ways the identity of both artist and subject can coexist in a painting. Major's current creative research focuses on the traditional form of the portrait as a powerful form of representing an individual and how meaning can be expanded through scale, brushstroke, color, texture, composition, and the many variables that portraiture deals with.
This one-of-a-kind oil painting is 84 inches tall and 57 inches wide. It is signed by Major on the back. The artwork is wired and ready to hang. It does not require framing. Free local Los Angeles area delivery. Affordable Continental U.S. and International shipping are also available. A certificate of authenticity issued by the art gallery is included.
Major expands the traditional portrait painting by cataloging her memories and thoughts along with the thoughts of the subject - at times recording quotes from the person depicted - by painting under, into and over the subject in her handwriting. Major’s “hand” is visible both in the brushstroke and in the cursive writing, preserving her identity in a “readable” way both literally and through graphology, or handwriting analysis.
Major's paintings are created with oil on gesso primed canvas. Her portraits feel overwhelming and have a “larger-than-life” presence that cannot be ignored. The large scale also creates a different “reading” of the painting depending on the viewing distance. Up close, areas may be read abstractly due to the emphasis on defined brush strokes, dabs of energetic color, and texture that is formed by the cursive text. From far away, the image coalesces from the fragmented strokes and layers of writing, drawing focus to the likeness of the subject painted.
Text incorporated into this original painting: Audrey - I Believe
Giving is living. If you stop wanting to give, there's nothing more to live for. I believe in being strong when everything seems to be going wrong. I believe that happy girls me the prettiest girls. I believe that tomorrow is another day, and I believe in miracles. I have enormous faith, but it's not attached to any one in particular religion. Elegance is the only beauty that never fades. For beautiful eyes, lock for the good in others; for beautiful lips speak only words of kindness; and for poise, walk with the knowledge that you are never alone Not to live for the day, that would be materialistic - but to treasure the day. I realize that most of us live on the skin on the surface without appreciating just how wonderful it is simply to be alive at all. They say love is the best investment, the more you give the more you get...
Artplex Gallery has been representing and exhibiting Christina Major's original artworks since 2022. The gallery has been a 1stdibs partner since 2014 with consistently excellent reviews from clients worldwide. The gallery exhibits a well-curated selection of original artworks representing a broad spectrum of major international artists. Artplex Gallery is known to provide accurate descriptions, images, reliable services, communication, and delivery.
REPRESENTATION
Artplex Gallery, Los Angeles, USA
EXHIBITIONS
2022 Palm Beach Modern and Contemporary, West Palm Beach, FL
Artplex Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2021 Typographical Abstraction and Literary Portraiture, West Palm Beach, FL
2020 Evening on Antique Row, West Palm Beach, FL
Palm Beach Modern and Contemporary, West Palm Beach, FL
2019 Evening on Antique Row, West Palm Beach, FL
Contemporary Focus, Palm Beach County Convention Center, FL
Palm Beach Modern and Contemporary, West Palm Beach, FL
2018 Art Wynwood, Miami, FL
2016 Art Palm Beach, West Palm Beach, FL
2015 Art Palm Beach, West Palm Beach, FL
2014 Art Palm Beach, West Palm Beach, FL
“Above the Couch”, JF Gallery, West Palm Beach, FL
“Immersed”, Gallery 2014, Hollywood, FL
2012 “Propria”, Solo Exhibition, Gallery & More, Goteborg, Sweden
2011 “Natural Interactions”, Palm Beach State College, Palm Beach Gardens, FL
“Collaboration”, Ursula’s Fine Art, West Palm Beach, FL
Christina Major, For Art Sake, Hollywood, FL
“Inward & Outward”, JF Gallery, West Palm Beach, FL
2010 Christina Major, For art Sake, Hollywood, FL
Gallery 101, Ft Lauderdale, FL
“Mediums Exhibit”, JF Gallery, West Palm Beach, FL
Gallery 101, Ft Lauderdale, FL
Area 23 Gallery, Miami, FL
“20 x 20”, Area 23 Gallery, Miami, FL
“Components of Self”, Schmidt Gallery, Boca Raton, FL
2009 “The Bridging Principle”, The Armory, West Palm Beach, FL
2008 “New Talent”, Gallery Camino Real, Boca Raton, FL
2007 “Visualizing Race”, University Galleries, Boca Raton, FL
2006 “No Transfat”, The Ritter Gallery, Boca Raton, FL
EDUCATION
Florida Atlantic University – Boca Raton, Fl
Masters in Fine Art, May 2010
Florida Atlantic University – Boca Raton, Fl
Bachelors in Fine Art, May 2007
Palm Beach State College – Lake Worth, Fl
Associate Degree in Graphic Design, May 2003