Oil on cardboard – 12 x 12 inch – Unique work

The weather is wonderful, and yet, I decide to visit the Louvre Museum. It’s not big, it’s huge! A great program in perspective. I take the metro, it’s so much easier and more convenient than the car. I choose to join the museum from the outside to get an overview. Shops in the basement aren’t really my cup of tea. So here I am in this amazing Napoleon courtyard which welcomes a transparent glass pyramid causing, back then, heated discussions. In the end, it fits perfectly and absolutely does not harm the surrounding buildings.

And then, I just stand in front of this equestrian statue in awe. But who is it ? Even if, I must admit, what attracted me the most was the horse. He is magnificent. What strength of character, what delicacy too. I can feel his determination, his anger as much as his resignation, his listening. He submits to the domination of the rider, his order, his control. And it’s not just any rider. Nope !

It’s Louis XIV! The Sun King himself, who left his Palace of Versailles to land in the 1st arrondissement of Paris. Louis XIV now sits majestically in the Cour Napoléon of the Louvre Museum with his steed. But what a unique place too. I have to go visit the museum, anyway. But I can’t take my eyes off the smallest details of the monumental sculpture. The mixed muscles of animal and man. The latter yet so light compared to his horse. They are one.

What sustains the two, I do not know exactly what it is. At first glance, I thought of vegetation, and then why not flames. Finally, under my brush, it almost looks like a hand that lightly carries the whole thing.

From where I stand, I see in the background the transparent glass of the pyramid and its metal structure and also one of the buildings of the museum with the French flag, like the blink of an eye, in case we don’t have everything fully grasped where we are.

Clearly, I hesitate. Love at first sight cannot be refused. I turn back, leave the place to join my studio. I take a canvas board, I start drawing and then enjoy the colors and shapes…