Michel Henry "Transparent Veil" Oil painting No. 5F

2003 work

A red bouquet in a floral vase is seen through a translucent white veil. The long, narrow stand under the vase is also painted translucent white like the veil, but the pink of the background can be seen through. Michel Henry painted several paintings with this composition in the early 2000s. In most of his paintings, he used large canvases, between 30 and 50 cm, and the bouquet is of hydrangeas. In this painting, it is difficult to tell what kind of flower it is. The leaves look like roses, and they also seem to be slightly smaller versions of hydrangea leaves. The flowers are orange and red, so they are not hydrangeas. Considering 100% red as the base, pink is closer to blue, and from pink through purple to blue. If the proportion of red is reduced, orange becomes closer to yellow. There is a print (serigraph) called "Hydrangea Veil," in which the hydrangeas are painted in pink, and the mysterious atmosphere of the veil harmonizes with the fantastical atmosphere of the hydrangeas. However, this oil painting (size 5) has a bright orange red in the center, and rather than a mysterious atmosphere, the shining bouquet is the focus, and the veil and pink background play a supporting role. The vase is not the crystal vase that Michel Henry usually uses to arrange flowers, but a ceramic vase painted with flowers of the same color family as the bouquet, so the red flowers in the vase are integrated with the red of the bouquet. The bright white of the vase has a shine as if it is lit, unlike the translucent white of the veil, and helps to guide the eye to the bouquet.

Michel Henry is a painter who mainly paints flowers, and is one of the leading painters of the 20th century French art world along with Buffet and Brasilier. He is called the painter of happiness in France because his paintings give off a sense of happiness, 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, and the Saudi Arabian royal family, among others. Since 1995, Galerie Adeka has been the sole agent for Michel Henry in Japan, planning Michel Henry exhibitions at famous department stores and galleries throughout Japan, producing original prints signed by the artist himself, selling painting prints, and managing copyrights. The paintings sold by Galerie Adeka were purchased from Michel Henry. The original prints are produced by Galerie Adeka, the prints purchased from Michel Henry, and the prints purchased from publishers in Paris; all are brand new.

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