akaihata no aru fuukei
(red flags landscape)

1987

acrylic and oil on canvas
1620m x 1305mm

This was quite an elaborate work. The painting was prepared with an "undercoat" of acrylic, a middle layer of tempera (egg or casein) and an oil finish. This was successful in achieving a "dry canvas" because the acrylic under-coating (thickly applied with modelling paste) adhered to the water paint and then to the upper oil paint.

I was interested in the material and techniques of Italian Renaissance mural painting, especially Botticelli's fresco work. Therefore I aimed at a dry canvas technique like his.

I was twenty-years old when painted this work. The figure's pose is copied from Michelangelo's ceiling frescoes in the Sistine Chapel.

I'd travelled to the Soviet Union at the time of 70th anniversary of the Revolution. The atmosphere of the city during the celebrations was exhilarating and I was inspired to draw the red flags in the background when I returned to Japan.