It was once customary for the more well-to-do young European artist, as well as young members of the nobility in general, to undertake a long trip around the major cultural centres of Europe, so that, following such exposure to the arts of each nation visited, he might be bettered in his work, through both a broadened understanding of style and technique, and a greater appreciation of the depth and scale of his European cultural heritage. In today’s world, modern media make international cultural exchange far less arduous and costly, and photography, combined with the rise of the Internet, means that all the art of Europe is but a few mouse-clicks away. The result is that an artist such as myself, living on the outskirts on London, can display creative influences from any nation or period, far more than would ever have been possible a century ago.

I have selected a few of my paintings to demonstrate how my practice has been influenced by various European traditions.

France — ‘Sphynx’ (Reference: Gustave Moreau’s ‘Oedipus and the Sphynx’)
Florence and Rome — ‘Grief’ (Reference: Raphael’s ‘Entombment’, 1507)
Turin and Venice — ‘Michael’ (Reference: Sebastiano Ricci’s ‘Fall of the Rebel Angels’)
Holland — ‘Court’ (Reference: Hieronymus Bosch’s ‘The Last Judgement’)
All the paintings are acrylic on canvas except ‘Sphynx’ (Acrylic on card).