Venus Reborn

Title: Venus Reborn

Copyright: © 2012 Dan Sullivan

Medium: Acrylic painting on canvas.

Materials: Acrylic colours on 12 ounce (420 gsm) cotton duck canvas, bound to an MDF (medium density fibreboard) support.

Protected with three coats of acrylic varnish. Framed in a brushed steel effect, solid aluminium moulding.

Size including Frame:  89.5 cm x 130.5 cm (35¼” x 51¼”).  All measurements approximate.

Signature:  Hand signed by the artist, both front (monogram) and back (full signature), with year of completion (2012).

Certificate of Authenticity:  A signed certificate of authenticity is supplied with this painting.

This work is based on Botticelli’s fantastic Renaissance masterpiece ‘The Birth of Venus’ (1485).

The iconic central figure is a constant source of inspiration, used widely in advertising and graphic design. I decided to borrow the whole composition, or at least the arrangement of the four immortals portrayed, and place it in a modern setting suggested by the strange poses these figures strike.

In particular the two wind-gods on the left (Zephyrus and Aura) are most oddly entwined in the original, somehow conjuring up an image of a motorcyclist and his pillion passenger.

I think the mood of the picture – the interplay between the characters, the glamour, the glances – all fairly reflect Botticelli’s delightful creation, though I’m afraid that to leave Venus naked in these surroundings would have been just too incongruous!