$90.00 – $175.00
Print on canvas
This is an artwork depicting the villa and gardens of the beautiful Borromean island, La Isola Madre, with Lago Maggiore sparkling in the background.
Different size prints available:
Large 50cm x 70cm (20″ x 27 1/2″) plus coloured border, 3cm wide (1″).
Medium 40 x 56 cm (15″ 3/4 x 22″) plus coloured border, 3cm wide (1″).
Small 30 x 42cm (11″ 3/4 x 16″ 1/2) plus coloured border, 3cm wide (1″).
Not framed. Delivered rolled in a tube. Shipping cost is the same for each size because the tubes are all in the same weight category.
UK buyers please note: You’ll be required to pay Import VAT and a customs clearance fee before you can receive your package from the Post Office.
This painting, Isola Madre, began as an attempt to deal with the October 7 massacre by painting an idyllic kibbutz scene. The idea was that closer inspection of the colourful scene would reveal that the tiny figures were in fact committing atrocities like rape, murder, dismemberment, kidnapping etc. I described the painting in a blog post in February.
The problem was that I found it too traumatic to actually depicts such scenes. I couldn’t bring myself to paint a group of Hamas thugs armed with RPG’s, guns, and knives gang-raping young girls and then mutilating them. So I turned the painting into the opposite of brutality: It became one of the most serene and whimsical places I know: La Isola Madre on Lake Maggiore.
From the touristic website stresa.com :
The island was first cultivated at the beginning of the 16th century, when the Borromeo family, impressed by the exceptionally mild climate on the island, began to introduce citrus trees and vines. During the nineteenth century, the orchard gradually evolved into landscaped botanical gardens. The unique character of the park can be largely attributed to Count Vitaliano IX Borromeo, who was a passionate botanist. Over fifty years, he spared no effort to expand his collection of valuable plants from every continent in the world.
The passage of time has not dimmed the appeal of Isola Madre, which today plays host to ancient trees and a delightful population of peacocks, parrots and pheasants. Every latitude and altitude, from South America to Asia, seems to be present here; so much so that a visit to the island is transformed into a multicoloured journey around the world. It would be hard to improve upon Flaubert’s appraisal of the island as an “earthly paradise”.
This painting, which began life as a chronicle of a massacre, is now a prayer for peace and serenity.
