Monday, September 13, 2010

The Belle Époque Today: The Art of Anastasia Pollard, RP

Kitchen Witch, Anastasia Pollard
A member of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters since 2005, Anastasia Pollard brings new life to traditional portrait composition. Pollard studied at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts and Florence Academy of Art. Her work has received high praise. In 2009, she was awarded the Ondaatje Prize for Portraiture.


Pollard’s work is a beautifully peculiar combination of whimsy, realism and the ethereal. She demonstrates a remarkable control with her media, alternating between loose wispy brushstrokes and the most precise lines. Her palette is often of dusty earth tones juxtaposed against the colors of brilliant jewels. The result of her compositions is simultaneously startling and soothing.

Ghost of Velazquez, Anastasia Pollard
These are the sorts of portraits that you can examine for hours. With a clear foundation in classical painting, Pollard has moved beyond the traditional to create pieces that are at once abstract and remarkable clear.  I'd recommend having a look at her online portfolio.  Her body of work is quite impressive.





Primping Clown, Anastasia Pollard

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