The Name of the Rose (Snejana Onopka) II
Acrylic and emulsion on canvas
36" x 48"
2021
Private collection
Acrylic and emulsion on canvas
36" x 48"
2021
Private collection
In this strikingly beautiful and mysterious portrait, Collins revisits his earlier painting, "The Name of the Rose (Snejana Onopka) I", which he based on a photograph of the iconic Ukrainian supermodel, Snejana Onopka, by German fashion photographer, Katja Rahlwes for Vogue Paris.
Here, Collins has again used his signature restrained palette and high contrast style, which features in all pieces in the his long-running "Model Citizens" series. Collins has also again used Farrow & Ball paint, which he employed for the first time in the earlier version of this piece. However, Collins selected "Scotch Blue" (now "Titmouse Blue"), in a return to a starker use of chiaroscuro.
The matte finish of the blue paint again pays tribute to the flat nature of the painting itself, in a nod to modern painting theory. Yet the print-like aesthetic, supported by Collins' extremely fine and controlled brushwork, exists in playful tension with the paint's allusions to modern notions of the medium's essential quality.
"The Name of the Rose (Snejana Onopka) I" and "The Name of the Rose (Snejana Onopka) II" are two of Collins' most technically accomplished, as well as two of his most haunting portraits. They exemplify the concept of sublime beauty at the heart of the "Model Citizens" series.
