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Affe mit Waffe #95

Collection

Affe mit Waffe Deprecated

Description

John Singe Sapient had decided to make some changes in his working life. He always enjoyed being outside anyway and leaving his stuffy studios would be a bonus. John was an artist and for some time was considered one of the leading portrait painters of the ape society. Born in Florence to American parents, his parents remained nomadic expatriates. Although based in Paris, they regularly moved to the lake and mountain resorts in France, Germany, Italy and Switzerland with the seasons. As a young apeling, John was pretty rambunctious, and also then he was more interested in nature than in his studies. Due to his itinerant life, he received a bumpy education but grew up to be a highly literate and cosmopolitan young ape, well versed in art, music, and literature. He loved art and especially the classic oil paintings that he encountered on his frequent travels. He once said: "I have learned in Venice to admire Mandrilletto immensely and to consider him perhaps second only to Simiangelo and Vervetian." After his training years, he became a portrait painter and was able to receive numerous commissions in France from both the old nobility and the nouveau riche monkeys. The clientele liked him a lot because John usually kept up a pleasant conversation, often observing his models from different positions or hanging on the chandelier and painting with his feet. He found this practice to spike his creativity. He applied the oil paint directly and confidently tried out different approaches with each new challenge, here with an unusual composition and lighting effect. His best portraits showed the individuality and personality of each and every monkey and his commissioned works were consistent with the grand manner of portraiture. In his paintings, his subjects were ennobled and often possessed by restless energy. His great skill made him a standout among the newer portraitists and his fame quickly spread. He confidently set high prices and turned down unsatisfactory sitters. His way of working was well established: after negotiating a commission, John visited the client's house to see where the painting should hang. He would often review a customer's food preferences or living habits. He chose which colors would best match the furs of his clients and in which position or hanging angle the portrait should be produced. Maybe he was making a grave mistake because he was too sure of himself. The submission of the “Portrait of Madame Gibbontreau” to the Paris Salon was intended to consolidate his position as an ape society painter in Paris, but instead led to a scandal. He had to admit that maybe the way she chewed the banana was a little too provocative. This incident gave his critics an opportunity to speak up and complain. They disagreed with the "looseness" of John's brushwork, which has been summarized as "smudges everywhere". In the end, John had to remove the portrait and rename it "Madame Ape X" to protect Madame Gibbontreau's reputation. Still, rumors and nasty gossip did not stop after a year and John decided to give up France and the subject of portraiture. Much of him was not so unhappy about this, because he always said, "Painting a portrait would be quite amusing if one were not forced to talk while working… What a nuisance having to entertain the sitter and to look happy all the time." Now he moved to London. There he already got an interesting offer from a group of monkey artists called "Monksy" to participate in mural graffiti and to work en plain air. With the graffiti, he wanted to stick to his painting technique of alla prima by working directly on the stone walls. It was a method that relied on the proper placement of the paint in a quick manner, as the work had to be completed before the first layers have dried. It was a new field, but John was sure, he would succeed. He would always create with the intention of giving everything the intensity of a dream in order to achieve his style of "Sapientology".