Joseph Raffael
American, 1933 - 2021Le Printemps I, 1988
On view
Watercolor on paper
Dimensions61 × 44 3/4 in. (154.9 × 113.7 cm)
Framed: 67 × 51 in. (170.2 × 129.5 cm)
Museum purchase, 1989.71
Joseph Raffael has made a name for himself with his realistic paintings of water, fish, flora, and fauna. As he did then and still does today, Raffael seeks to bring nature to life on the canvas or paper. Le Printemps is from a series of watercolors and oils that had as its muse Raffael’s wife Lannis, pictured with one of his white cats. Moving his attention indoors and focusing on the human figure is, in a sense, a departure for the artist. As he once noted, “painting is the subject of my work, and nature the inspiration. The process of painting the work. What happens from moment to moment...what occurs...the events that take place before my eyes.”
