Pageant of the Masters: Pieter Faes

I grew up going to the Pageant of the Masters in Laguna Beach, California, an annual pageant that recreates the paintings of the masters with live models (as you might recall from Arrested Development). After studying art history and subsequently interning for a few art museums, I find myself constantly relating everything back to the original works of the masters because it’s laid the foundation for what we do today.

One idea that has been germinating for awhile in my mind is to recreate some of these works in real life, and more specifically, works relating to flowers, of course. I’ve teamed up with floral designer Ashley Beyer of Tinge Floral and photographer Kate Osborne to recreate one work per month starting with a still life from Pieter Faes. 

First it started with finding the right vessel. Shockingly, it’s tough finding a Greek-inspired urn. I ended up finding an urn-type vessel at a nearby antique market that fit the bill.

Ashley Beyer found the exact flowers from the painting and a couple that were close): lilac, coral charm peonies, white mojelika spray rose, viburnum berry, parrot tulip, daffodils, delphinium, Juliet garden rose. The only one not in season was forget-me-not, so we made do with a blue-ish berry.

And after a some backstreet driving from Kate and me, Ashley worked her magic and created this:

Drumroll please…..

It’s so interesting to dissect a piece of art because you start realizing the license that the artist takes in creating something. For example, the left angle of the table can only be achieved if it’s a severe angle to the viewer or a tiny piece of wood. Additionally, the vase in the painting is lit from the left, but the background is also lit from behind on the right. Faes probably created this lighting to create more drama but is it likely that he had two lighting sources? Who knows. The more I do and study art, the more I realize that art is constant creative decision making and lots of liberty. 

Faes was an 18th century floral painter from Southern Netherlands whose works served as models for sculptor Van Huysum. He was very much inspired by the painters from the golden Dutch baroque era with a moody dark atmosphere contrasted with bright colors.