Michel Henry <Bouquet of Coquelicots in the Field> Oil painting No. 12

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.

Michel Henry often paints bouquets against the backdrop of beautiful cities and fields such as Paris and Venice, and bouquets of Coquelicots filling the foreground. In that sense, this is a typical style of painting by Michel Henry. A small village church is painted beyond the field, and beyond that is a mountain ridge, with the sky spreading out above it. It is a beautiful composition of fields and red Coquelicots, as usual by Michel Henry. However, if you look a little more carefully, you will notice that this painting is full of beauty different from other paintings of fields and bouquets of Coquelicots . Let's take a look at the difference. Michel Henry has condensed the beauty of the landscape of a moment in the field after rain, rather than under clear skies, into this painting. The slightly moist sky, air, and fields after the rain are painted, and a bouquet of red Coquelicots is painted in the foreground. The light filtering through the clouds is painted in a deep rose color due to the influence of the humid air, and it looks hazy in places. The red petals of the Coquelicots in the field and the green and yellow flowers of the plants are hazy and trembling under the influence of the dew. A puddle has formed on the base on which the vase of the Coquelicot bouquet is placed, partially reflecting the flowers of the field and the Coquelicot vase. The landscape after the heavy rain has passed is depicted with fresh beauty.

It offers a slightly different feel from paintings done under clear blue skies. Coquelicots bloom in abundance in May , when the weather remains sunny , and it is rare to see a field of Coquelicots covered in dew like this. While the color and shape of the field in the background are obscured by the flickering light caused by water droplets, the bouquet of Coquelicots retains its clear shape and is painted elegantly and powerfully in vivid red colors. The contrast between the flickering, unstable background and the clear color and shape of the bouquet creates a pleasant shock to the eye. Among the many bouquets with fields in the background that Michel Henry has painted, this painting stands out as being particularly impactful. Michel Henry's sensitivity and ability to discover and express new beauty in the subtle changes in the expression of nature is astonishing.

Gallery Adeka Yasuhiro Takeda