Nasturtiums
2017
Nasturtiums is a richly layered figurative composition by Louis Fratino, painted in 2017 when the artist was just 24 years old. The work depicts a reclining male figure surrounded by lush foliage, decorative objects, and floral arrangements in glass vases, rendered in Fratino's signature style that compresses interior and exterior space into a single vivid plane. Fratino is known for intimate scenes drawn from his personal life and relationships, and this painting exemplifies his debt to Matisse and Cézanne while maintaining a distinctly contemporary queer sensibility. The small yet commanding scale and dense accumulation of pattern and warm saturated color make this an exceptional early example of the artist's figurative practice.
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- Signed
- Yes
- Spotted At
- Auction House · Sotheby's
Notes
Dimensions converted from user input: 72.0 inches height x 108.0 inches width. No document source provided; all data from user input and visual analysis.
Collectors of Louis Fratino
Also spotted by
Artists in conversation
Cy Twombly
American · b. 1928
Twombly worked extensively in monochrome ink and charcoal on paper with gestural expressive mark making that references classical and Renaissance art history, sharing the same intimate drawing language and fluid figurative abstraction visible in this piece.
Cecily Brown
British · b. 1969
Brown creates gestural figurative works on paper that blend expressive mark making with art historical references, using charcoal and oil pastel in a similarly intimate and energetic way that bridges classical figuration and contemporary abstraction.
Henri Matisse
French · b. 1869
Matisse's monochrome ink and charcoal figure drawings share this work's quality of capturing intimate figurative subjects with minimal gestural lines on paper, combining classical portraiture sensibility with expressive economy of mark.
Start the Discussion
Request access to join the discussion