Self Portrait in Armour
Andrew Bonneau
- Sitter: Andrew Bonneau
- Medium: Oil on Linen
- Dimensions: 65 x 75cm
- Representation: Metro Gallery, Melbourne
About the artwork and sitter
This beautifully painted self portrait shows the artist dressed in a suit of Roman armour, holding an artists palete. Bonneau recently spent three months as a fellow at the British School in Rome, and he says this time indirectly influenced this self portrait.
His studies of classical forms are evident in his understanding of technique and the way light describes form. He says: “…the immense tradition we have inherited from antiquity continues to affect my artistic choices.”
He references the “sense of acting that can be part of creating a self portrait”. In this artwork, he could be speaking to the universal need of artists to protect or fortify themselves, at the same time as they reveal their interior worlds to others.
About the artist
Andrew Bonneau’s work is both directly observed from life, and also finds its place in the European tradition of painting. It is known for its particular quality of light. Andrew was trained in Sydney and New York, he now lives in North Queensland and exhibits regularly around Australia. He has been a finalist in many major competitions, and regularly teaches portrait, still life and landscape workshops in Brisbane.
