In the Szafran jungle
This masterful watercolor of Potted Philodendrons (Philodendrons en pots) testifies to the artist’s wonder for these tropical plants.
Ever since their discovery in Zao Wou-Ki’s workshop, Szafran was fascinated by their perennial character and their leaves marked with a sustained and varnished green. Philodendrons invaded the space and became one of his favorite subjects in his studio in Malakoff, among the capharnaum of unusual objects and the pastel stall worthy of a color merchant. Szafran opted for paper and watercolor to render their texture more luminous.
Alongside watercolors and pastels where these perennials flood the composition, sometimes to the point of suffocating it, this composition on a background of pure white is a real breath of oxygen and silence reigns.
A retrospective will be dedicated to this mysterious and silent artist at the Musée de l’Orangerie in Paris in Autumn 2022.
Philodendrons en pots
Circa 1987
Watercolor on paper
Signed lower left
74 x 47 cm
Price upon request. Contact us.
