The Real Thing part 1 (retrospective): Sprengel Museum, Hanover, Germany

This painting is based on a work by Pierre Subleyras (1699-1749) which hangs in the Palazzo Barberini in Rome. Here, I have elongated and distorted the figure, but not so much to make her unbelievable. She is covered in scar-like brushstrokes, rendered in intense and surreal colours. Acrid yellows clash with other-worldly greens, while red shadows make the figure feel as if she is quivering,even moving. It's a deliberately uncomfortable image, yet at the same time beautifully still.
- Glenn Brown, May 2018