Renee Spierdijk Sold at Auction Prices

§ Renee Spierdijk (Dutch, born 1957, Amsterdam) - 'Desert Rose' - oil on canvas

§ Renee Spierdijk (Dutch, b. 1957, Amsterdam) 'Desert Rose' oil on canvas h:96 w: 91 cm Provenance: Private collection, Cambridge. Renee Spierdijk writes: "The present painting is titled "Desert Rose" and it is inspired by the folk art I found in Mexico and in particular the retablos, small devotional scenes painted on tin, which people commission to thank a saint for their good fortune, usually painted in a semi-naïve style. It is the second in a series of unknown children I have been working on for the last ten years and followed on from the paintings of dogs. The subject matter was inspired by a found photograph of a young girl in a confirmation dress probably taken in the 1950s and, although I had never used a photograph as a reference point in the past, I was so moved by this girl's expression of defiance that I felt compelled to make a painting inspired by her. The way in which the portrait grew out of an emotional reaction to a photo emerging into something quite distinctly different provided me with a new way of working which continues to this day, and has also spawned a series of silkscreens which take the image back into the realm of the photographic as they are made from photographs of the paintings. The photograph which inspired the present painting was found in a book on Mexico and dates from the early 1900s, I believe. The decision to place the young girl on the red pigment was made in order to connect her with the colour of the land and its beautiful nature. The background contains a small desert rose just peeking out which I think is like her, not knowing yet who she is or who she is about to become".