The perceptive used by the artist is deliberately oversized to suck the viewer into a world that seems unreal. The painter was even described as a 'painter of marble' by a satirical newspaper called 'Punch', as the finesse of this element is difficult to equal. The rendering of textures and proportions seems perfect. The subject represented is a procession of young girls adorned with flowers descending a marble staircase. For this type of achievement, the artist has been the target of many critics, most of whom considered that he was not spiritual enough and that his work was meaningless. He moves away from the real world to create a space composed of shimmering colors. When he paints this painting, Lawrence Alma-Tadema is at the peak of his art. Here is a painter without complex, who was able to integrate and be recognized in a country that was not his at the origin. The artist will know an extraordinary success during his lifetime, as he will even be knighted by Queen Victoria in 1899. He became British after three years and joined the Royal Academy in 1876. The British Empire will turn his career upside down. The following year, he left France for England, following the invasion of Prussia. In 1869, the artist lost his wife to a devastating illness. These pictures will give him new sources of inspiration for his future pictorial compositions. He will take multiple photos of Italian Romanesque churches and the ruins of Pompeii. On the occasion of a honeymoon in Italy in 1863 with his wife, a French woman, the artist will upset the aesthetic identity of his painting. Born in the Netherlands in 1836, he established himself in many countries: France, the United States, Australia and England. Lawrence Alma-Tadema (1836-1912) will continue to affix this type of mention until the end of his long career. Paul Getty Museum Los AngelesĪrtist sure of his talent since his early childhood, he allows himself to number his works with the mention 'Op' (for Opus). Spring, Lawrence Alma-Tadema, 1894, oil on canvas, 178 x 80 cm, The J.

Tadema artist