Let me love you 2006

JASON BENJAMIN born 1971

Let me love you 2006

oil on linen
183.0 x 244.0 cm
signed, dated and inscribed verso: Let me love you/2006/Benjamin

Provenance:
BMGART, Adelaide
Private collection, Melbourne

Exhibited:
Jason Benjamin, BMGART, Adelaide, 6-28 October 2006

Reference:
McGregor, K., Jason Benjamin - What Binds Us, Macmillan Art Publishing, Melbourne, 2007, pp.134-135 (illus.)

Estimate: $20000 - 28000

Result Hammer: $33,000

The art of the floral-based still life has been a subject lovingly rendered by artists for time immemorial, from photorealistic to modern abstract depictions of flowers and/or fruit in domestic settings. However, Benjamin’s instantly recognisable floral representations take everyday blooms and render them larger-than-life explorations into colour, tone and form. His elegant focus on the contours and curves of the flowers and the way that light and dark play on their surfaces, are reminiscent of classical depictions of drapery. But here, the expansiveness of Benjamin’s composition evokes a sense of close up photography, an intimate snapshot of something quite small, but rendered sublime in
its largesse.  

Let me love you has a warm softness to it, as each fold of every petal interacts with light and shadow in romantic dusky pink and peach tones. The simple elegance of the floral composition allows Benjamin to delve closer and closer with every brush stroke into the blushing centres of his almost-fragrant flowers. 

Anna Groden BA (Hons); MA (Art History)