Welcome to Marilyn Bailey's Homepage

“Breasts” after Le Chapeau de Paille by Rubens
Gicleé print 2005
8 ½ x 11 ½ in (21 x 29 cm)

Still Life with portrait of Sally
Mixed technique 2004
39 ½ x 51 in (100 x 130 cm)

Lamentation after a stone Frieze (V&A)
Gicleé print 2003
11 ½ x 16 ½ in (29 ½ x 42 cm)

Persus & Andromeda after Titian
Gicleé print 2003
11 ½ x 16 ½ in (29 ½ x
42 cm)

Still Life with face of Piero della Francesca
Crayon & pastel drawing 2003
15 x 22 in (38 x 56 cm)

Still Life with Hendrickje by Rembrandt
Crayon & pastel drawing 2003
15 x 22 in (38 x 56 cm)

The Milkmaid, after Vermeer
Oil pastel & collage
14 x 20 in (35 x
51 cm)

The Green Umbrella, after Goya
Collage
9 ½ x 10 in (24 x
25 cm)

The following images represent a set of seven pictorial narratives entitled "Allegory of Love". I made small drawings in watercolour, crayon and oil pastel taking sections of the four large canvases by Veronese of the same title and each of these four works further described as "Unfaithfulness", "Scorn", "Respect" and "Happy Union" (National Gallery, London).
My initial drawings were made in the rich, soft Venetian golds, greys and blues of the original paintings. They were then scanned and manipulated using computer graphics to take on vivid colours of almost chemical intensity.
This combination of old mastery techniques with a brilliance of pigments forms a contemporary aesthetic in which an indeterminate drama is taking place. Some characters are dressed, some not, echos of the neo-classical sensibility of the 16th century Venice. Taking the bare threads of this drama I added short pieces of text to accompany each piece in which enduring themes of love, confusion and individual striving fuse, unclearly.
I made large gicleé prints of these small works ... and a small hand-made seven page book containing the images flanked by the text - a thin monograph; a celebration of Veronese' works; a sparse reflection on love and it's inevitable elaboration.

Still holding the letter she bent
down to press it into his shadowy hand
Gicleé print 2003
16 ½ x 24 in (42 x 61 cm)

“Wait!” . . . . “Look this way!” Her eyes
were elsewhere and even then shards,
like iron filings, fell from the tree
trunk cutting through the fine red cloth beneath.
Gicleé print 2003
16 ½ x 24 in (42 x 61 cm)

She reached for the high garland,
not because it was momentarily held lower
or that she believed it would transform her.
Gicleé print 2003
16 ½ x 24 in (42 x 61 cm)

Stripped & in flight, she let go
while he still gazed at the dormant branch.
Gicleé print 2003
16 ½ x 24 in (42 x 61 cm)

Watching those last throes,
there seemed little hope left.
Gicleé print 2003
16 ½ x 24 in (42 x 61 cm)

Within the dark stolen space,
was it sleep or death he saw?
Gicleé print 2003
16 ½ x 24 in (42 x 61 cm)

De grâce.
Gicleé print 2003
16 ½ x 24 in (42 x 61 cm)