Lot 2 , Charlotte Snook, Presentation of the Portrait of Maria de Medici, after Rubens, 2020, oil on board, 30 x 25 cm

Charlotte Snook
Presentation of the Portrait of Maria de Medici, after Rubens, 2020
oil on board
30 x 25 cm
£1,200-1,800
Charlotte Snook is a British figurative painter who uses her knowledge of art history and a contemporary understanding of human nature to make images in jewel-like oils. She starts with Breugel, Poussin, Claude and 17th-century Flemish art, but her dislocated scenes are often filled with barely supressed, violent energy. Indeed, her work allows for the apocalyptic nature of the world. “They are concerned with a loss of paradise,” Snook told artist-curator Alan Rankle. “It’s all about the painting: light, colour, contrast, the composition and brushstrokes. I try to set a narrative without there being one.”

Born in Middlesex, Snook studied at Hornsey College of Art and gained her MA in Painting at the Royal College of Art. In her academic career, she has taught at art schools and universities throughout England, and from 2001-09 was Senior Lecturer in Visual Communication (Foundation) at Central Saint Martins, London. She lives and works in Hastings.

Snook’s work has been included in the Jerwood Drawing Prize (1995-99), the Hunting Prize and the Garrick/Milne Prize. Solo exhibitions include Rare Affairs at the Basement Gallery, Boise, Idaho, USA; Hastings Museum and Art Gallery; and St Anne’s Galleries, Lewes.