Marco Ortolan: the exoticism of the past

Following in the footsteps of Romantics like Delacroix or Ingres, Argentine painter Marco Ortolan brings their Orientalist creations up to date with his theatrical compositions. Many of them are dominated by exotic motifs such as the gypsy women who inspired so many paintings by the creators of Romanticism and later by the bohemians of early 20th century Paris.

This taste for lavish stagings, ruled over by modern odalisques, fleshly and seductive, makes Ortolan a singular creator, whose painting recalls the exuberance of bygone times and invites you to dream of the exoticism of the East, more through the mysterious atmosphere than through worn-out recognizable references.

He achieves that atmosphere, as tradition dictates, through the chiaroscuro technique and a palette of reddish, ochre and golden tones, taking in the dark greens and blues of the natural settings, all of it tempered by the thick black line of the drawing.

Slight touches of pearly white bring light to the scenes, which reach their greatest luminosity in the glints of water, be it the Venetian lagoon, the beaches of Argentina or the fountains of hidden gardens.

In this latest series, a symbolic hymn to spring, those hints of light compete in brightness only with the sculptures of classical nymphs, snow-white and majestic, placed at the centre of the composition. The painter heightens the enigmatic effect using ovals that steer the viewer's gaze dramatically towards the sculpture. As if we were seeing it through a strobe camera.

Unsettling still lifes made with toys, which seem to have been abandoned by children who have grown up and, like vanitas, to endorse the idea that you should seize the moment because everything passes, plus Venetian masks with hollow eyes wrapped in elaborate fabrics, round out the artwork of this artist, capable of a prodigious leap into the most up-to-the-minute present, setting the brush aside (never too far aside) to grab a pen and draw dynamic scenes in ink, such as a polo match or a couple dancing the tango.