Painter in his studio

Painter in his studio
This is an oil and pencil work on canvas based on sketches and two photographs. It is in the tradition of paintings of artists in their studios such as Rembrandt and .
It is a comment on the motives of many artists though not the one portrayed. The artist is portrayed as a mere decorator rather than an artist hence the paint roller and tradesman’s cleavage. The suggestion being is that the painter is ‘knocking them out’ them being the paintings as quickly as possible for money which is what the image of the twenty pound note and the currency signs dripping from the roller refer to. The lack of any other detail in the room/studio suggests that the subject/money is all that the painter is interested in.