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About Aengus Dewar
Artist's Approach
I’ve loved and been inspired by figurative painting since I was a child. It’s such a difficult thing to create, yet its effect, when done well, is extraordinary. How remarkable it is that most of us have stood in museums or galleries and found our thoughts and emotions pulled powerfully to and fro by a flat, coloured surface made by someone who died centuries ago. How unremarkable, then, that having always loved this sensation, I made my way to Italy to train in a traditional atelier, and eventually became a painter myself.
To take a living human being and compress their exact physical presence and psychology successfully into two dimensions with no more than some brushes and pigments is demanding. For me, the best examples are paradoxical mixtures of deception and honesty, alchemy and rigour. The painter must be able to deceive the eyes of onlookers with his work, must at all times be brutally honest with himself in respect of his performance, must approach each stage of the painting with every tiny bit of know-how he possesses, and somehow – above all else – must find and nurture a slice of magic that lifts the painting from a lifeless facsimile into a credible breathing picture.
I find I work best in quite isolation. For over ten years I have spent my time in the remote wooded parts of Ireland or up forgotten mountainsides in Italy. In these places, concentration can be absolute. Days and nights meld seamlessly into each other and a painting can be built without interruption or distraction. It’s not always a sociable life, but it fits well with what I love to do.
I strongly believe that great painting in the western tradition is at its most evocative and potent when it strives to find subject matter or values that are universal, that go far beyond a single culture, place or period. I also feel that the best figurative art is informed by sympathy rather than cynicism in respect of the human condition. With that in mind, I attempts always to fuel my paintings from the guts, martial them from the head and temper them with the heart.
Commissions
. . . are the lifeblood of a painter who prefers not to exhibit very often. Many of the works displayed on this site were, in fact, commissioned, including the larger mythological/historical pieces. Although portraits are the most frequent request they are by no means the only one, and anyone who would like to approach me with something in mind need not confine themselves to conventional stuff. I enjoy a challenge, I enjoy requests that push me out of my comfort zone and force me to adapt.
Prices in charcoal start at Euro 800, and in oil at Euro 1600. They rise depending on the size and complexity of the piece in question. Any requests or queries can be sent to my email. I will always answer within a few days.
