Stealing Ideas From Ingres, or: The Harem, Redecorated

Two years ago I finished a painting I'd started nine years before and then abandoned.  "Le Fumeur - after Ingres".  It was based on Ingres' famous "Grande Odalisque" of 1814 that resides in the Louvre.  The model for my painting, a good friend, posed for the preparatory photographs back in 2002.   

I didn't want to reproduce the original Orientalist details, so I came up with a vaguely Fin de siècle decor; Fabergé-style enameled cigarette case and matchbox, Art Nouveau silver and enamel vase.  And since my friend was quite the smoker, I used that to my advantage, replacing the original's waft of incense with the more pedestrian trail of drifting cigarette smoke.  Oh, and the cigarette butts....

Le Fumeur - After Ingres - acrylic on panel - 14x22 - 2002-11