Painted Upholstery Chair: New York City theme

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Could you paint New York City chair for me, was the request from Thina. Her only stipulation was that the chair should have a New York taxi cab on it somewhere.

This is what I came up with...

Statue of Liberty, deli sandwich and a bowl of Kosher pickles

King Kong, Les Miserables Playbill, a little van Gogh-ish Starry Night ... and a hot dog

King Kong in Black & White

I want to be a part of it ... New York, New York

Thina trying out her chair

Central Park's Bethesda Fountain

Chagall Inspired Chair (Back Panel)

The back panel of the chair  is a tribute to the beautiful stained glass windows which Marc Chagall created at the synogogue of the Hadassh-Hebrew University Medical Center in Jerusalem, Israel. 

After pouring over photos of  the 12 windows Chagall created (one window each for the 12 tribes of Israel), I decided to use the Reuben Window as a model in honour of my late father, whose first name was Reuben.

Blue is the predominate colour in the Reuben window and it has a "water theme to it.

I decided a peace dove would be appropriate

In our life there is a single color, as on an artist's palette,
which provides the meaning of life and art. It is the colour of love.
- Marc Chagall 

While outstretched hands reach up towards the sun, the source of light; the peace dove flies underneath it and the "Colour of Love" in Hebrew appears on the sun. Lily of the Valley bloom mysteriously under the sea this this world.

Chagall inspired Chair (side panels)

Here are the two side panels...

The first one shows a stylized couple. If you look closely, you can see that the wallpaper behind them incorporates the weave of the chair's cloth.

This panel features a bride and groom as well as a violin player, peace dove and 3 candlesticks ~ all common elements in Chagall paintings.

Chagall inspired Chair (front panel & cushion)

In our life there is a single colour, as on an artist's palette,

which provides the meaning of life and art.

It is the colour of love.

Marc Chagall

In the past year, life has certainly got in the way of my art, as a result, this chair has taken me over a year to complete. Yes, family and health take priority over such things such as art, so this project has taken a long time to complete. In the end, I am happy with the final result, and maybe because it was a struggle to complete this piece, it is somehow sweeter.

There is plenty of Chagall-like symbolism here. I included an Eiffel Tower ~ one of Chagall's trademarks on the front of the chair.

The seat cushion is reversible. One side is predominately blue and features a heart-shaped bunch of flowers. On the other side, I included a quote by Marc Chagall which reads: "I work in whatever medium likes me at the moment."

Silent Auction Chair: Back panel

And here is the back panel of the Silent Auction Chair ...

I painted it after Van Gogh's The Sower which was after Millet's The Sower.

This painting may look simple, but it wasn't.

A short video clip of this chair follows ...

(Please excuse the sound of the hockey game between Canada and Germany in the background)

Final Selling Price: $700

Silent Auction Chair: Side panels

Side panel: a single iris (after The Iris, May 1889)

This panel is based on the July 1888 painting entitled

The Painter on His Way to Work ...

Unfortunately, the original painting

was destroyed by fire during World War II.

Thankfully there was a coloured photograph of the original.

Faux Gogh style for Silent Auction

This chair (#3) was painted for a silent auction that my son's university choir was hosting. And again, I chose a Vincent Van Gogh motif.

The first panel was another Starry Night.

On the cushion, I painted "Three Sunflowers in a Vase" (1888).

On the flip side of the cushion, I painted it simply green which makes it

appear like a continuation of the Starry Night panel.

At the very front of the chair, I paid tribute to

Van Gogh's "Wheatfield under Clouded Sky" (1890)