Still Life, Trompe l’oeil, France, Arnold Toubeix

With a degree from Paris’s élite Ecole Estienne,Toubeix (born 1950) went on to enjoy a prestigious career in advertising and design, however, it was his private passion for painting that captivated his attention. He turned it into a full time obsession more than 30 years ago. Toubeix’s all consuming infatuation for Still Life painting was influenced by the work of Cézanne, Chardin, Rembrandt and the Flemish Still Life painters Brueghel, Baugin, De Heem and Vandael. Intrigued and fascinated by the intensity and attention to minute detail in their masterpieces he made it his ambition to specialise in this area. He has perfected a very slow and meticulous technique which requires absolute peace and total concentration. The results are gem like paintings capturing the miniscule details of texture, light and reflections; the tactile quality of the skin of a peach, the reflection in a droplet of water and the transparency of a wine glass.