Seizing Beauty

A dialogue between the photographs of
Paulette Tavormina and Old Master still lifes

It’s truly an honor to have my photographs featured alongside selections from the gallery’s quintessential Old Master paintings.

Beyond the beauty, I want the viewer to see as I see, to feel as I feel when a leaf balances just-so, pointing the eye to the next little narrative that is part of the larger work. This beauty around us is fleeting, and yet can be forever embedded in a perfect moment that is a photograph.

Creating these heartfelt vignettes allows me an avenue to explore the intimate instances of my life, to tell stories of love and loss, of joy and sorrow, all while feeling grateful for the rich abundance of life, then seizing and sharing that beauty. It is a dream come true to be exhibiting at Colnaghi with its rich and revered history. It’s truly an honor to have my photographs featured alongside selections from the gallery’s quintessential Old Master paintings.

This show is the culmination of shared passion and immense dedication; a uniquely collaborative experience in which I was fortunate and grateful to work closely with the curators and their associates whose collective vision is reflected in this exhibition.

Featured are photographs from several of my series over the last eight years including newer images such as the Orchard Pears, 2016 and Zebra Finches and Tulips, 2017. I had always hoped my photographs would affect someone as deeply as the Old Master paintings have affected me. To have the works in conversation is the realization of my greatest artistic aspiration.

Art is a continuum; the past and present are timeless, woven together with gossamer threads. When captured in a photograph or a painting, still life gives immortality to a single moment in all its beauty and fragility.

Paulette TavorminaPhotographer

Paulette TavorminaBlueberries and Apricots, After G.G.2013Photography

61 x 61 cm (24 x 24 in.)

Luis Egidio Meléndez1716 - 1780Still life with apples, arbutus berries, a watermelon, box of sweetmeats, honey-pot and caskOil on canvas

48 x 34.5 cm (18 x 13^1/2 in.)

Paulette TavorminaBotanical VII, Tulips2013Photography

92 x 92 cm (36 x 36 in.)

Alonso de Escobar1602 - 1637Still Life with pears, jay, grouse, starling, rooster and woodpeckerOil on canvas

66 x 85 cm (26 x 33^1/2 in.)

Paulette TavorminaCabbage and Melon, After J.S.C.2010Photography

61 x 61 cm (24 x 24 in.)

Andrés de Leito1656 - 1663Vanitas (Disenchantment of the World)Oil on canvas

107 x 155.5 cm (42.1 x 61.2 in.)

Paulette TavorminaFigs, After G.F.2009Photography

51 x 41 cm (20 x 16 in.)

Giacomo Ceruti1698 - 1768A kitchen still life with meat and vegetables on a table topOil on canvas, unlined, a pair

84 x 118 cm (33 x 46^1/2 in.)

Giacomo Ceruti1698 - 1768A kitchen still life with cheese, fruit and bread on a table topOil on canvas, unlined, a pair

84 x 118 cm (33 x 46^1/2 in.)

Paulette TavorminaFlowers and Fish III, After G.V.S.2012Photography

92 x 92 cm (36 x 36 in.)

Juan van der Hamen y Léon1596 - 1631A basket, boxes and jars of sweets on a wooden tabletopOil on canvas

58.4 x 98 cm (23 x 38.6 in.)

Paulette TavorminaLemons and Peony, After F.D.Z.2009Photography

51 x 76 cm (20 x 30 in.)

Juan van der Hamen y Léon1596 - 1631Still Life with a basket of grapes and pomegranates, and other fruits and vegetables on a ledgeOil on canvas

54.5 x 107 cm (21^1/2 x 42^1/4 in.)

Paulette TavorminaLemons and Pomegranates, After J.V.H.2010Photography

51 x 76 cm (20 x 30 in.)

Jan Vermeuelen1652 - 1661A Vanitas Still-LifeOil on panel

69.3 x 56.9 cm (27^1/2 x 22^1/4 in.)

Paulette TavorminaOrchard Pears2016Photography

92 x 92 cm (36 x 36 in.)

Giovanni Paolo Castelli (Spadino)1659 - 1730A series of Anthropomorphic still-life paintings of the seasonsOil on canvas

129 x 96.5 cm (51 x 38 in.)

Paulette TavorminaPeaches and Hydrangeas, After G.G.2015Photography

38 x 51 cm (15 x 20 in.)

Giovanni Paolo Castelli (Spadino)1659 - 1730A series of Anthropomorphic still-life paintings of the seasonsOil on canvas

129 x 96.5 cm (51 x 38 in.)

Paulette TavorminaStill Life with Cauliflower and Bread, After L.M.2014Photography

48 x 38 cm (19 x 15 in.)

Giovanni Paolo Castelli (Spadino)1659 - 1730A series of Anthropomorphic still-life paintings of the seasonsOil on canvas

129 x 96.5 cm (51 x 38 in.)

Paulette TavorminaStill Life with Quince and Jug, After L.M.2014Photography

92 x 122 cm (36 x 48 in.)

Bartolomeo CavarozziStill Life with Quinces, Apples, Azeroles (Hawthorn berries), Black grapes, White grapes, Figs and Pomegranates463Oil on canvas

87.5 x 117.5 cm

Paulette TavorminaVanitas IV, Dreams, After A.C.2015Photography

61 x 61 cm (24 x 24 in.)

Juan Van der Hamen y León1598 - 1631Still life with a bowl of fruits and hanging game1621Oil on canvas

60 x 92 cm (23^1.2 x 36^1/4 in.)

Paulette TavorminaVanitas V, Journeys, After E.C.2015Photography

61 x 61 cm (24 x 24 in.)

Paulette TavorminaVanitas VI, Reliquary, After D.B.2015Photography

61 x 61 cm (24 x 24 in.)

Bernardo Polo1650 - 1675Still life of a sunflower and other flowers in a gilt-mounted bluestone vase, with fruits in a pewter dish and grapes on a vine branch, all on a carved marble ledgeOil on canvas

72 x 108 cm (28^1.2 x 42^1/2 in.)

Giovanni Paolo Castelli (Spadino)1659 - 1730A series of Anthropomorphic still-life paintings of the seasonsOil on canvas

131.5 x 94.5 cm (52 x 37.4 in.)

Slide Mode Grid Mode

“We are delighted to be working with Paulette for this exhibition; she is a widely admired artist whose work is held in museum, corporate and private collections, and who was recently awarded the Pollock-Krasner Foundation grant in 2016. Still lifes are perhaps the most timeless of pictures, so it has been a fascinating process selecting Old Master paintings and photographs for the exhibition alongside such an insightful contemporary still life artist.”

Jorge CollCEO of Colnaghi