The enchanting oriental faces and still lifes of Grace Spiegel.

A deep admiration of Seventeenth century painting, translated into the vernacular of our times, is the basis of the work of Grace Spiegel (Amsterdam, 1968). Grace’s highly original painting style is inspired by the Asian art and antiques that she was surrounded by in her youth. The palette for her oil paintings consists of six basic colors (white, black, ochre, brown, blue and red). Grace traveled to Venice in early 2019 to have additional all-natural pigments created to complement her basic palette. The combined palette is a mix of unique, extremely refined tones that Grace applies with just two brushes and her fingers to create magic on her canvasses. Grace’s distinct individual style is singularly expressive and her unique approach to color is exquisite. In addition to memories of her youth, Grace often finds inspiration for her work in her collection of Asian objects, which includes classic Asian porcelain in blue and white, antique silk kimonos and shoes, Indonesian carvings and colorful paper lanterns. The result is portraits of oriental women, as well as the occasional still life, with an intimate, dream-like quality: “Asian women have something serene, elusive and exotic in their faces, completely different from the almost hunted look of women in our culture. These oriental imaginary figures are fascinating to paint.”