the monuments of Paris, charcoals on paper, June 2018
design and production of 4 big-size artworks The monuments of Paris for a private Parisian flat - June 2018
- each drawing is 50cm width by 225cm height
- using charcoals on hand-dyed Arches watercolour paper 300gr
- the cartouches at the bottom of each panel are gilded by hand using false gold leaf
In constant communication with the interior designer Pascale Benhamou, Cécile Gay has designed The monuments of Paris to decorate a the hall of a retail client’s luxurious flat in Paris. Inspired by a Dufour antique bloc printed wallpaper from the beginning of the 19thcentury, this project depicts famous Parisian monuments : les Tuileries, l’Hôtel de Ville, le Panthéon and la colonne Vendôme. According to the client’s wish, the selected views show typical scenes from the old Paris, as records from the rich and prosperous history of the City of Light. From the realism of the very detailed buildings to the bucolic scenes from daily life at the foreground, these works of art take us into another French style work of art. To enhance this impression, Cécile Gay hand-dyes the big format backgrounds in order to obtain subtle shades of faded green-water as an aged paper. The drawing medium used is the charcoals and the sanguine, in the manner of the sketches from the famous artists of the 18thcentury. The cartouches at the bottom of each panel were gilded by hand by the artist using false gold leaf (non precious metal). Cécile Gay has created these 4 artworks from the proposals with the first drawings, from the final delivery before framework and the making of drawing samples and colour tries. The end result of this work is fully tailored to perfectly fit the client’s wishes as a result of dialogue between the interior designer and the artist.
