Ref:  5155

A folk painting of Mother & Child, this painted in reverse on a thin sheet of glass then placed within a pine frame that is stained red and combed. Has original hook for hanging.

These were made by the peasants and sold at markets, the subject matter is of course the Virgin & the baby Jesus, these works were copied from black & white lithographic prints, but any sense of the austere or dry religious content is completely transformed, the prints in question had heads of saints bordering the central image but the peasant artist has no patience or desire for those and instead paints flowers, the whole thing is translated into a vibrant & abstract free-hand colour expression & with no concern at 3-dimensional representation, more like decorative textile or carpet than icon.

Eastern Europe      early 20th cent.

H: 43cm (16.9in)
W: 32cm (12.6in)
D: 1.5cm (0.6in)

SOLD