"Ensemble" Oil on Canvas by Dominique Dorie

Against a backdrop of deep, brilliant yellow gold, two distinct zones emerge: the outlines of a shadow formed by a pair of human silhouettes, probably a couple, appear. The golden background plays an essential role in this oil by Dominique Dorie, enveloping the painting space and our perception with radiance, which is warm and comforting, as it is surprising in its contrasts. This choice of color alludes to gold, which, through the ages and artistic traditions, has become synonymous with divinity. It could be that the artist is using it to elevate love to the level of the sacred, transporting it from earthly planes to celestial heights. Small flashes of light, like stardust, illuminate the entire work. Moving beyond initial observation, we become active participants in a narrative woven by Dorie, authorized and encouraged to decipher the work's symbolism in a uniquely personal way. Isn't love and its infinite spectrum the center of everything, common to all human experience? The work exudes softness, something enveloping, held by these two figures protecting each other, and stopped in a moment of suspended time.

Drawing on Nietzsche's philosophy and aesthetics in art, the painting reveals a dialogue between the Apollonian, symbolized by the distinct forms, and the Dionysian, associated with instinct, passion, and the irrational, represented by the abstract elements of the painting. This combination of order and chaos, clarity and mystery, evokes the human experience of love, which is at once enigmatic and tangible, ephemeral and eternal. Nietzsche believed that true art arises from the tension between these two opposing forces, and that it is in this confrontation that the artist finds the inspiration and creativity necessary to create powerful and meaningful works.

Dominique Dorie was born in Versailles in 1958. At the age of sixteen, he began working in the Louvre as a sculpture restorer. He enjoyed studying the many masterpieces hanging on the walls of the great museum and felt compelled to sketch them, but he had very little free time to do so.

1977 marked the turning point for Dorie. The city of Paris offered him a scholarship, which enabled him to enroll in a night course in drawing. As his skills in that field improved, he developed a desire to use color and began to paint in oil. From 1974 on, Dorie participated in a number of exhibitions in towns surrounding Paris. He also had two one-man shows in Paris and one in Strasbourg between 1982 and 1984.

During the year he worked in Paris, his aesthetic perception and artistic sense matured, but he decided to move out of Paris and go to a small village in Normandy. There, surrounded by uncluttered nature, swiftly changing light and wind, he started painting the sea, the sky, and the field with wildflowers. He developed his own style, depicting nature with a vivid surrealistic feeling.

Dorie has traveled a long way for an artist who hung his paintings on the fences of the church of St. Germain des Pres. In 1985, he exhibited his work in the Salon de Criel and the Salon d'Orly, where he was awarded the Prix du Salon. In 1984 and 1985, he exhibited in the prestigious Salon d'Automne. In 1986, he won the Medaille d'Or at an exhibition in Deauville.

REFERENCE NUMBER: LU654314180502
PERIOD: 21st Century
CONDITION: Excellent
MEASUREMENTS: Height: 39.5" Width: 39.25" Depth: 1.5"
COUNT: 1
MATERIAL: Canvas, Oil
CREATOR: Dominique Dorie