1 of 3

Alain Gazier
Contemporary painting of Architectural Interior by Gazier, "Escalier bleu"

$18,500List Price

About the Item

Born in Paris, France in 1956, Alain Gazier grew up surrounded by a bustling and evolving contemporary art scene. It was a period of intense experimentation as the market was saturated by cubist painters, “art brut” styles (outsider art), and aspiring pop artists. Gazier drew on the influences of his time, while simultaneously incorporating artistic elements of the past. The painter’s oeuvre mainly consists of large- scale paintings of geometrically elegant interiors informed by the 16th and 17th century Dutch practice of depicting the “room beyond.” Alain Gazier masterfully transforms established modes of representation into his own unique aesthetic. His chief interest lies in architectural forms, portraying rooms and hallways of deserted palaces that are devoid of human interaction or presence. The lack of life allows the painter to focus on the interplay of colors, intricacies of interior architecture, and the play of light within empty chambers. Gazier’s paintings have a textured quality that builds up tonality and effectively captures the natural effects of light. He achieves this by using a mineral based, marble-infused gesso to prime his canvases. The base coating not only adds to the realistic portrayal of stone and marble, but also contributes to the bright, iridescent tones that make his paintings appear to glow. Gazier has an expert understanding of perspective, proportional architectural lines, and establishing a vanishing point. One particularly striking element in his paintings is the inclusion of black and white tiled floors. The artist uses the suggested lines created by tiled flooring to draw one’s eye toward the back of the room. This creates an illusion of depth, and the viewer feels as though there is ample space beyond the two-dimensional canvas. Elevating the representation of interior spaces as a subject has a rich history in fine art. Painting the interior was extremely popular in “The Golden Age” of Dutch art (16th-17th century). Artists such as Johannes Vermeer and Pieter de Hooch employed the technique of painting interiors that reveal a room beyond the space in the foreground. De Hooch, in particular, engages the viewer in his portrayal of realistic tile and marble flooring; the receding lines of the checkered ground lure one’s view throughout the extent of the composition [Fig I]. Gazier builds on this visual technique but, diverging from the works by Dutch masters, he removes all signs of life. Whereas the Dutch leaned toward scenes of everyday life, Gazier constructs palaces with grand Ionic columns composed of glittering marble. Through focusing on the subject of the interior alone, the serenity and beauty of balanced lines and corresponding shapes is highlighted. Gazier’s paintings are also reminiscent of the style of M.C. Escher. Both artists form optical illusions through the representation of architectural details. A focus on the formal elements of painting is just as visually stimulating as the depiction of occupied rooms. With the absence of living subjects, the interplay of light and perspective becomes far more engaging. The sunbeams that seep through paned glass onto the tiled ground are animate and dynamic. Many of Gazier’s works include either a solitary chair or two chairs angled toward each other, simulating an unheard conversation between the two pieces of furniture. The inclusion of the brightly colored furniture reflects the Academic technique of using a splash of red to direct the viewer’s eye to desired spaces. By rendering his designs on such a monumental scale, Gazier transports his audience into an entirely new space. Buildings featuring an enfilade, a suite of rooms formally aligned with each other, were prevalent in the Baroque period [Fig II]. The entranceways in Gazier’s paintings are aligned with the connecting rooms along a single axis, allowing a glimpse into the areas beyond. The tranquil, trompe l’oeil spaces and cropped compositions allude to a much larger, more expansive scene that is just out of view. Flooded in radiant light and colorful reflections, Gazier constructs images that are simultaneously real and dreamlike.

Creator:
Alain Gazier (1956)
Dimensions:
Height: 77 in (195.58 cm)Width: 38 in (96.52 cm)Depth: 1 in (2.54 cm)
Medium:
Mixed Media,Oil
Movement Style:
Contemporary
Period:
2010-
Condition:
Gallery Location:
Washington, DC
Reference Number:
1stDibs: LU123825512912

Category

2010s Contemporary Interior Paintings

Materials

Stone, Sandstone

Daniela Gullotta
Interno con Discobolo , contemporary, original oil painting, 2024

$2,289

H 7.88 in W 7.88 in D 1.58 in

Still Thinking About These?

All Recently Viewed

Alain GazierContemporary painting of Architectural Interior by Gazier, "Escalier bleu"

About the Item

You May Also Like

2010s Contemporary Interior Paintings

Roberta FinebergThe Rainbow, Books, Photography and Oil on Canvas, Mixed Media, 2025

2010s Contemporary Landscape Paintings

Daniela GullottaInterior - Stairs 1, 2017

2010s Contemporary Interior Paintings

Daniela Gullotta Battersea Power Station , contemporary, original oil painting, 2014

2010s Contemporary Interior Paintings

Daniela Gullotta Canary Wharf Station , contemporary, original oil painting, 2014

2010s Contemporary Landscape Paintings

Daniela Gullotta"Gymnopédie n.1", original oil painting, 2025, 2010

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Mixed Media

Eustace Mamba"The Tailor", Figure with Sewing Machine in Yellow, Paint, and Collage, 2024

2010s Contemporary Interior Paintings

Daniela Gullotta Interno con mezzo busto , contemporary, original oil painting, 2024

2010s Contemporary Interior Paintings

Daniela Gullotta Interno con testa di cavallo , contemporary, original oil painting, 2024

2010s Contemporary Interior Paintings

Daniela Gullotta Interno con Venere , contemporary, original oil painting, 2024

2010s Contemporary Interior Paintings

Daniela Gullotta Interno con Discobolo , contemporary, original oil painting, 2024

Still Thinking About These?

Alain Gazier
Contemporary painting of Architectural Interior by Gazier, "Escalier bleu"

Roberta Fineberg
The Rainbow, Books, Photography and Oil on Canvas, Mixed Media, 2025

Daniela Gullotta
Interior - Stairs 1, 2017

Daniela Gullotta
Battersea Power Station , contemporary, original oil painting, 2014

Daniela Gullotta
Canary Wharf Station , contemporary, original oil painting, 2014

Daniela Gullotta
"Gymnopédie n.1", original oil painting, 2025, 2010

Eustace Mamba
"The Tailor", Figure with Sewing Machine in Yellow, Paint, and Collage, 2024

Daniela Gullotta
Interno con mezzo busto , contemporary, original oil painting, 2024

Daniela Gullotta
Interno con testa di cavallo , contemporary, original oil painting, 2024

Daniela Gullotta
Interno con Venere , contemporary, original oil painting, 2024

Daniela Gullotta
Interno con Discobolo , contemporary, original oil painting, 2024