A Mona Lisa Tribute
My accidental Frida Kahlo led me to paint a very deliberate Mona Lisa tribute in another imaginative realism piece, Perception… with my own additional symbolism, of course.
How Did I Find Such a Gem?
After creating my imaginative realism piece, Joy, I was surprised when it came to my attention that quite a lot of people thought it was a tribute to Frida Kahlo. It hadn’t been my intention. But rather than try to avoid similarities to other pieces in the future, I decided that I’d actually quite like to pay tribute to some more masters on purpose. You can read the blog post about my accidental Frida Kahlo here.
As an artist, I’ve done my fair share of studying classical art over the years. I was even commissioned to recreate Millais’ Ophelia many moons ago. Which was actually very interesting, especially since I was asked to add in some fairies. And I also had my Klimt tributes, Medicine and My Danaë, so it wasn’t such a huge leap to find some other well known pieces to nod to. Especially given how laden with symbolism the classical works are.
Mona Lisa Tribute - Not Recreation
I figured there was no reason why I couldn’t pick what is arguably the most well known painting of all time, The Mona Lisa.
Unless commissioned to do so, I’m not partial to recreating the work of the masters. It’s already been done, for a start. And unlike studying a live subject, or even a photograph, the brushstrokes have already been painstakingly made for you; nothing about the work will be yours, at the end of the day, except for the mistakes you’ve made. Let’s face it, it doesn’t matter how meticulously you copy a master’s work, it’s already a masterpiece and you won’t be improving upon it.
Don’t get me wrong – it’s so important to study the masters over and over again. It’s the key to understanding technique; what you like and what you don’t; what works for you and what doesn’t. But you also need to find your voice and style, apply those techniques to your own work and develop them in your own way. And there is only so much copying you can do. It feels a bit like cheating somehow.
My main artists of choice when I was younger were Lucien Freud, Gaugin, Tanning and Klimt. Freud was my first love in art, and I tried to reflect that in my painting, My Danaë – a Klimt tribute of sorts. But stylistically there is more of Freud in her than Klimt.
While that is not how I work at all anymore, I did paint this in 2010 and I was working on commission a lot, so my style was more experimental. And there’s a juicy story with that painting too; albeit one of gaslighting, heartache and cruelty… with a psychopathic narcissist thrown in to boot. But that’s a tale to be told over drinks and if I’m recounting that, you’re buying 😉 I like to think I’ve come a long way since then. Personally and artistically. Still, I have to admit, she is one of my bestsellers for prints, and selling the original was both agonising and freeing. She’s gone to a good home, though and that always gives me a sense of relief when I sell a piece.
Anyway, to get back to the subject at hand. The masters! Standing in front of Botticelli’s Birth of Venus in the Uffizi was an almost euphoric experience. And I felt surprisingly emotional on seeing Munch’s The Scream in Oslo. But no matter how many great painters throughout history I’ve studied, I must confess that I have never concentrated on Da Vinci. Not in the literal sense. I’ve poured over art history books to understand his work, stared for hours at the Annunciation, attended exhibitions of his inventions at the Science and Industry Museum in Manchester. What an enigma. What an artistic genius. Maybe it’s the thought of trying to create my own version of something so unattainably beautiful that’s prevented me from recreating any of Da Vinci’s work. Fear is the biggest contributor to artistic inaction, after all.
So I swallowed my trepidation and just went for it…
Key Elements of the Mona Lisa in my Tribute
Key Elements of the Mona Lisa in My Tribute
The backdrop of my piece is a landscape, much like the Mona Lisa. Similarly, there are mountains and water, but unlike the Mona Lisa, the blues and greens are mountains and sky, with warmer tones in the middle. Da Vinci has his warm tones in the earth at the bottom with cooler colours above.
I find that there’s a certain reverence with classical paintings that more modern art doesn’t quite capture. Maybe that comes from the inherent sense of religion that permeated the lives of previous centuries. Perhaps it’s reverence for the artists we hold in such high regard. Or, as with most things, it’s probably a combination of factors. Whatever the reason, I wanted to incorporate that into the piece without it being overtly christian in feel.
I added roiling clouds, backlit by a late afternoon sun. There are some subtle god rays to the clouds on the right hand side. It’s also the side that my model is looking towards – almost as if she is hearing or seeing something from outside of the framing. The hard line of mountains gives way to clouds in line with the subject’s eyes (her two normal human eyes, that is), giving way to soft aerial perspective further back.
The horizon of my piece is lower on one side than the other, much like in the Mona Lisa. I also added a gold, geometric shape; it’s a more literal reference to Da Vinci’s use of the golden triangle in his work. But it’s also to create an off-kilter sense of the surreal. My golden bermuda triangle is uneven like the landscape behind, and the top points to an empty space above my model’s head, encasing her and separating her from the background, but also giving the piece a slightly trippy feeling.
A Modern Mona Lisa
One of the things people seem to comment on without fail, on observing the Mona Lisa, is her lack of eyebrows and eyelashes. It’s fairly common knowledge that she once did have eyebrows, but the thin strokes have long since faded to nothing, leaving her looking slightly quizzical. In a day and age where eyebrows are heavy, dark and occasionally ridiculous, the Mona Lisa’s bald face seems more out of place than ever. Which is why I wanted to make sure the eyebrows of my model were indelible. It’s one of the reasons why I chose this model as my subject. I wanted effortlessly striking looks, cascading dark hair, thick lashes, distinct eyebrows and dark, soulful eyes. Unfiltered and unaffected. Not unlike the Mona Lisa, but at the same time very different. A contrasting reference.
There was also a stillness to my subject that I felt fitting. The raised hand resting gently on her chest gives the impression of wanting to speak or holding in secrets. As in the Mona Lisa, there’s a delicacy to the hand, but also a feeling that motion is mere seconds away. There’s also a slightly crooked half smile on my subject’s face giving the piece an air of mystery. I wanted to emulate the serenity of the Mona Lisa all round.
Where Perception Deviates from the Mona Lisa
There are some very stark differences between Perception and the Mona Lisa, and as with most of my work, there’s an element of spiritualism that isn’t christian in origin.
The third eye is a motif we see in many cultures, all with similar meanings.
Third eyes are generally a sign of being awoken from your mundane daily life to something beyond. It can represent spiritual freedom and clairvoyance. Combined with the golden triangle behind the subject, the third eye was designed to make the subject appear aethereal and magical. The light that cascades over the hills on the right hand side of the piece was intended to create a sense of enlightenment.
Third eyes can also signify empathy and deep understanding of the human condition. In Hinduism, it represents the enlightenment you can achieve through meditation. Similarly, in Buddhism, it represents wisdom.
Third eyes also represent self reflection, and the solitude of the mountains around my subject give the painting a feeling of isolation. However, the subject seems to be surveying her surroundings comfortably – I wanted her to seem active, rather than passive. Lost in happy contemplation.
Unlike with most cultural references, I painted the third eye green rather than indigo, because I wanted the painting to symbolise oneness with mother nature.
There is a fourth eye in the painting. The fourth eye is said to be the one that allows us to see the colour of auras. It is also often referred to as the God eye and represents full consciousness and spiritual ascension.
The Third Eye
The third eye is a motif we see in many cultures, all with similar meanings.
Third eyes are generally a sign of being awoken from your mundane daily life to something beyond. It can represent spiritual freedom and clairvoyance. Combined with the golden triangle behind the subject, the third eye was designed to make the subject appear aethereal and magical. The light that cascades over the hills on the right hand side of the piece was intended to create a sense of enlightenment.
Third eyes can also signify empathy and deep understanding of the human condition. In Hinduism, it represents the enlightenment you can achieve through meditation. Similarly, in Buddhism, it represents wisdom.
Third eyes also represent self reflection, and the solitude of the mountains around my subject give the painting a feeling of isolation. However, the subject seems to be surveying her surroundings comfortably – I wanted her to seem active, rather than passive. Lost in happy contemplation.
Unlike with most cultural references, I painted the third eye green rather than indigo, because I wanted the painting to symbolise oneness with mother nature.
The Fourth Eye
There is a fourth eye in the painting. The fourth eye is said to be the one that allows us to see the colour of auras. It is also often referred to as the God eye and represents full consciousness and spiritual ascension.
The Magic of Mona
In conclusion, the Mona Lisa has become a symbol of beauty and enigma. There’s something magical about Da Vinci’s portrait of Lisa del Giocondo that it still captures the imaginations of so many today. Even if people suspect the portrait hanging in the Louvre is actually a forgery.
As with everything I do, there is hidden (and not so hidden) symbolism, but most of all, I want to let people make up their own minds. I create my art with the hope of making people feel things, so while these are the reasons I painted this piece, what’s more important is what other people see in it.
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