Quiet Rooms

Location

Country: France
City: Paris
Place: British Embassy

A woman sits alone in front of two rows of chandeliers. This setting and one other chair empty and slightly askew in the background give us the impression that a social gathering in the sort of ornate room typically found at hotels or event venues, has recently ended. The room has recently become quiet. There is no one else in sight. The placement of the two chairs, the dark brown rectangle in the foreground that indicates a piece of furniture – a bar, or perhaps the back of a piano – offer an engaging composition of colours against the yellow backdrop of the lights and the grey shades of the ceiling. The slight figure of the woman, with the colours of her skin close to that of the brown rectangle and of her dress to the chair in the background, could easily slip unnoticed into this composition of colours but instead, she animates the painting, breathing life into the quiet room and leaving us wondering why she is there.

Places

Subjects

woman, chandelier, armchair, chair

Materials & Techniques

canvas, oil, oil paint, oil painting

Artist

David Remfry (1942 - )

Title

Quiet Rooms

Date

2019

Medium

oil on canvas

Dimensions

height: 120.0 cm; width: 120.0 cm; depth: 2.3 cm

Acquisition

Purchased from the artist via the Royal Academy, March 2021

Provenance

The artist via the. Royal Academy (commission payment received from the artist to keep RA Schools free); from whom purchased by UK Government Art Collection, 31 March 2021

GAC number

19008