Michel Henry [Iris] Oil painting No. 3 [Framed]

2003 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

When we think of irises, we think of blue or violet, but there are also pink varieties. Michel Henry occasionally paints irises. There is a cool-looking serigraph by Michel Henry called "Eiffel Tower and Iris." In this print, blue and violet irises are proudly depicted facing the Eiffel Tower. This painting is unthinkable in the common sense of painting, as pink irises are painted against a red and pink background, but it was painted using the technique that Michel Henry used on a daily basis. When Michel Henry was a student, Chaplin Midi, a professor at the Beaux-Arts in Paris, the pinnacle of the French art world, a popular painter at the time, an authority on color, and Michel Henry's supervisor, apparently saw Michel Henry's use of red colors and said, "Michel Henry has surpassed me." Michel Henry invented the technique of layering red colors to create depth and three-dimensionality. It added a new page to color theory. This painting is also typical of Michel Henry. The iris leaves are painted black, contrasting with the red. Small amounts of yellow and white are used here and there to great effect.

Gallery Adeka Yasuhiro Takeda