Party, Nicolas | Untitled, Red Portrait, 2017 — available on Composition Gallery

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Watercolour, pastel, gold leaf and oil on card. Hand-signed by artist, Signed and dedicated on reverse.

On a red ground, a faceted figure: deep blue-black hair cap, red-orange terracotta skin, fine pink lips, calm wide eyes, a generous gold-leaf garment with pale-teal trim. Party builds the face in flat geometric planes, the ground saturated to chamber-music intensity. Watercolour, pastel, gold leaf and oil on card, hand-signed and dedicated on reverse. A devotional little icon in his unmistakable faceted-portrait vocabulary; the gold leaf gives it Renaissance weight. To acquire a Party intimate watercolour is to own one of the most desirable contemporary painting practices of the present day.

Nicolas Party (Switzerland, 1980) is a contemporary artist celebrated for his surreal, vividly colored landscapes and portraits. Working across painting, sculpture, and installation, he reimagines classical genres with a modern twist. Party’s art often features soft pastel as a primary medium, creating dreamlike atmospheres that captivate viewers.

Nicolas Party

Untitled, Red Portrait, 2017

Name: Untitled, Red Portrait, 2017
SKU: 17529

Form

Painting

PaintingPainting is the process of applying media to a surface, using a tool such as a brush. The term refers to both the action and the resulting object. Artists use many tools to paint, such as brushes, airbrushes, palette knives, sponges or fingers and hands.

Medium

Watercolor

WatercolorWatercolor refers to both the medium and the resulting artwork created using pigments suspended in a water-soluble vehicle. Watercolors are known for their luminous, transparent appearance because the pigments are applied in pure form with minimal fillers. By adding Chinese white, the watercolor can become opaque, resembling gouache.

Edition

Unique work

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●Inventory 17529

●Signed

Limited Edition Print

Mixed Media

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The contemporary painter, installation artist, and sculptor, Nicholas Party, is most well-known for the critically acclaimed way in which he unites a disquieting form of representation with otherwise soothing pastel colors and flowing, simplified organic shapes. Although his works characteristically feature sharp demarcations between the various subjects and elements of his compositions, they nevertheless reflect his early interest in graffiti art, exhibiting an air-brushed quality.

His landscapes feature highly stylized, abstracted depictions of trees, shrubs, and other flora, which are reminiscent of both Félix Vallotton's unemotional landscapes and Theodor Seuss Geisel's well-known illustrations.

With respect to his portraits, Nicholas Party's figures appear both imposing and yet supple, owing to his skilled use of shading. Although irrealist in form, his subjects often stare out from the canvass with wide, penetrating eyes, much in the manner of Ferdinand Hodler's realist portraits. By denuding his own subjects of the detail associated with realist representations and depicting them as androgenous, Party's subjects appear uncanny and intense—features which are exacerbated by his use of solid backgrounds and the unusual perspective imposed upon them.

Artwork by Mr Brainwash

What is graffiti art?

Graffiti art refers to drawings and writings that are painted, scratched, or scribbled on walls or other surfaces, typically in public spaces. This art form ranges from small tags to elaborate wall paintings. Graffiti has been in existence since ancient times, with examples dating back to the Roman Empire, Ancient Greece, and Ancient Egypt.

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Nicolas Party

Untitled, Red Portrait, 2017

18.5 x 13 cm

Language & Currency

Nicolas Party