Lady Merete of Norway
Oil · 2019 549 views
Made by a human
O. Yemi Tubi certifies having made this artwork by hand, with no AI-generated imagery.
- 0% commissionAgree directly with the artist: the full price goes to them.
O. Yemi is enchanted by the works of the Renaissance art old masters; most of his recent paintings were influenced by their works. He recently embarked on doing series of paintings in the style of these old masters. “Lady Merete of Norway” is the portrait painting of a young Norwegian lady he met at Art Awards and Exhibition in New York April 2018. O. Yemi chose the portrait painting of the Queen of France, Elizabeth of Austria painted in 1571 by the French Renaissance artist – Clouet Francois as the reference for the “Lady Merete of Norway” portrait project. Using the style of Renaissance portrait painters, O. Yemi hanged the drapery in the front window overlooking the North Cape (Nordkapp), which is one of the notable landmarks of Norway – the country of the subject, at the background of the painting. He also painted sunrise in the background to depict the youthfulness of the subject. O. Yemi captured the bright eyes and the broad smiles of the young lady with the “Mona Lisa effect” as her eyes seem to be gazing back at the viewers at any angle. The message O. Yemi wants to convey to the young lady in this painting is that she should never see herself less than a Queen as she goes through life.
Like some of the old art masters Delacroix and Goya that spoke about social and political upheavals of their time in their works, O. Yemi uses some of his paintings to express himself about on-going political and social issues around the world. “A work of art which did not begin in emotion is not art” so said Paul Cezanne; O. Yemi was deeply moved by the horrors of wars and the plight of immigrants drowning in the sea to pick up his brushes again. His first political painting was “ARAB REVOLUTION” influenced by Arab Spring that started in 2012. “THE EAGLE HAS LANDED” was done to speak about American led war on terror. His painting -“KABIYESI OBA OBAMA (Unquestionable King Obama)” was a political satire based on the love and hate relationship between President Obama and Donald Trump. “THE BLEEDING ROSE” was done in solidarity with Christians beheaded by ISIS in Iraq and Syria. “Hunger in the Land of Plenty” and “OIL: AFRICANS’ WEALTH and WOE” were about poverty and exploitation of African people. He also used his painting – “UKRINE: THE UNFORTUNATE BRIDE” to speak about how America and Russia influenced the war in Ukraine. “THE FISHERS OF MEN” was about immigrants drowning in the sea. When O. Yemi works on portrait paintings, he desires his portrait paintings to be uniquely creative. He often uses the paintings to tell stories about his subjects. In one of his commissioned paintings “Josanne of Trinidad”, he blended the images of the parents at the top background cloud and the main subject below the images of her parents. This is to indicate that the parents are in heaven looking down on Josanne. He often uses his subjects’ professions to create their paintings. He used artist materials to create his painting “PORTRAIT OF AN ARTIST” and image of violin for the portrait of “THE VIOLINIST” He used books and flowing letters to create the portrait of Professor Wole Soyinka, 1986 Nobel Prize Winner in Literature in painting “SOYINKA: AN AFRICAN LITERARY ICON” O. Yemi has widely exhibited his works around the world in group and solo exhibitions. His works had featured in exhibitions in Bogota, Colombia; Vancouver, Canada; UN exhibition, Milan, Italy; Tokyo, Japan; USA and in many cities across the United Kingdom. O. Yemi has received many awards for his works across the world; his works have also been published in many art magazines and contemporary arts books. He is a member of the Fine Art America, the Society of All Artists, AERA –the Association Embracing Realistic Art and WCA- World Citizen Artists. O. Yemi paintings and awards can be seen on his website: www.o-yemi-tubi.pixels.com
