Michel Henry [The Seine in Paris] Oil painting No. 8F [Framed]

2005 work

This is a painting commissioned by the artist Michel Henry for our company (Galerie Adeka). 

Michel Henry is a painter who mainly paints flowers, and together with Buffet and Brasilier, he is one of the leading painters in the 20th century French art world. His paintings give off a sense of happiness, so he is called the painter of happiness in France, and the king of poppies in America, because he paints many poppies. His transparent colors are likened to jewels. Red is said to be the color of ruby, blue is the color of sawaire, green is the color of emerald, and deep brown is the color of topaz. Michel Henry's paintings are collected by the Museum of Modern Art in Paris, the Swedish royal family, the Principality of Monaco, the Saudi Arabian royal family, and others. Galerie Adeka has been the sole distributor of Michel Henry in Japan since 1995, planning Michel Henry exhibitions in famous department stores and galleries throughout Japan, producing original prints signed by the artist himself, selling painting prints, and managing copyrights.

Work Description

You can see the cylindrical part and conical roof of the Conciergerie on the right bank of the Seine. The Île de la Cité is an island in the middle of the Seine, and the Conciergerie is a historical building built on the bank of the Île de la Cité. It was built as a royal palace during the Capetian dynasty around the 10th century, but after the royal palace was moved to the Château de Vincennes in the 14th century, it was used as a courthouse and prison after the French Revolution, and Queen Marie Antoinette was also imprisoned here. It is now registered as a World Heritage Site and open to tourists, but part of it is used as a courthouse. The bridge in the foreground is Pont Neuf, which means new bridge. The bridge before Pont Neuf had buildings on both sides and was used as a shop. The bridge was the busiest road, so it was the best place to sell things. Even now, if you go to Florence, you can see shops lined up on both sides of the Vacchio Bridge. The Pont Neuf was built in the 16th century as a new style bridge without buildings. That's where the name comes from. However, it is now the oldest bridge in Paris. Brightly colored cherries are served on a white plate in the foreground, and on both sides, cherries are painted in bright, transparent red, giving a fresh feeling. The sky and the surface of the Seine are painted in pink and violet. There is a famous chanson called "La Vie En Rose," which depicts the romantic, rose-colored Paris of the time when cherries were in circulation. When the Conciergerie was established, Japan was in the Heian period, and when the Pont Neuf was built, it was the Azuchi-Momoyama period, during the time of Oda Nobunaga. As you enjoy the romantic rose-colored sky and the surface of the Seine, you can reminisce about the history of Paris, which has flourished as a European capital since ancient times.

Gallery Adeka Yasuhiro Takeda