"Swan" by Brent Millar

Oil on canvas: 16 x 20 in. (41 x 51 cm.)
Signed and indistinctly dated lower right: 'Brent X'
Further signed and titled to stretcher verso: 'Swan' and 'Brent'
Painted circa 2010
 
 
This compelling painting, showing a young man opposite a white swan, is an excellent example of one of Scotland's most respected contemporary artists, Brent Millar.
 
The subject, likely derived from the Greek myth concerning Leda and the Swan, has been executed through Millar's idiosyncratic collage technique. The young man, who features in several other works, has been screenprinted onto the canvas, with the swan, again a common motif in his work, delicately painted directly to the canvas.
 
The washy background has been thinly applied subsequently, leaving bare canvas showing through the paint - encouraging one to investigate the textural qualities of his work through the various media used. The contrast between the dark, fuzzy graphic used for the young man's picture and the painterly, stark white swan is remarkable; it creates a further abstraction between what is realistic and what is artistic, perhaps a comment on the questionable realism of Greek mythology itself. Their near equal sizing and balance of the composition makes for a pleasing, unpretentious composition.
 
The painting is framed by the artist, behind glazing, and survives in excellent condition.
 
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