Edwin Deakin "Christmas Morning"

From: Crocker Art Museum
Limited Edition: 14
Exhibition: Edwin Deakin: 
California Painter of the Picturesque
Material: Printed Vinyl
Dimensions: 31" x 72" (78cm x 182cm)

Hanging Hardware Included

Summary

Though born in England, artist Edwin Deakin worked most of his life in California, and is recognized as a major California artist. His realistic renderings of people, places, and things are luminously painted. The way he captured textures and materials in his still-lifes is reminiscent of the great Dutch Masters, and is seen in his work "The Kitchen Corner" shown on 9 banners from the Crocker Art Museum. Also from the exhibition come banners featuring Deakin's "Christmas Morning, Hotel de Cluny" which captures the stillness and serenity of a snowy Christmas morning in Paris. The detail with which the work is painted comes through in the the varied textures of stone and the carefully perched birds at the door. 14 banners feature this painting which radiates a warm feeling despite the blanket of snow it depicts.

Description

During his own lifetime, Edwin Deakin was admired for the beauty of his paintings. This visual pleasure of Deakin’s work offers an enjoyable respite from daily life, and a chance to see the world through his eyes. While some works of art challenge the viewer, the response evoked by Deakin is one of peace and enjoyment.

This is seen in his undated work, Christmas Morning, Hôtel de Cluny shown on banners from the Crocker Art Museum. The detailed view shows the courtyard of one of Paris’s most renowned medieval abbeys, built in the 15th century to house the Abbots of Cluny. The Christmas morning view shows the Gothic and Romanesque elements of the stone facade blanketed in snow. The stained-glass windows glow with warm light from the chapel within, and the archway with its door seems both secretive and inviting. The feeling is one of warmth despite the winter cold and snow.

The  Hôtel de Cluny was turned into a museum of medieval art and history in 1843, with the building itself serving as a prime example of that period in Paris’s history. Deakin manages to capture the varied textures and surfaces brilliantly, using his brush to differentiate the stone of the pavement from the stone of the walls. One charming detail is the gleaming copper bowl of bird seed that has been set on the stoop as a holiday treat for a group of local birds, a few of which perch on the bowl’s rim.

A dark green border surrounds three sides of the image, and white text above and below the image reads “Edwin Deakin/California Painter of the Picturesque”. A small white box at the upper left of the image includes the dates of the exhibition in green text, “January 26 through April 20, 2008”. Both sides of this banner are identical.

Provenance

These banners were displayed around Sacramento, California from January 26 - April 20, 2008 to promote the exhibition, Edwin Deakin: 
California Painter of the Picturesque.

About the Artist 

Learn more about Edwin Deakin