Provenance
Acquired by American Legacy Fine Arts directly from the artist
Exhibitions
"The External and The Contemplative" at American Legacy Fine Arts, Pasadena, CA, October 24 - November 21, 2015
Description “…Burgundy in all its sunset glow,” George Gordon, Lord Byron (1788-1824); Don Juan)
Alexey Steele’s Burgundy Fields exemplifies one of France’s most romantic regions—a type of personal paradise reserved for lovers of fine wine, gastronomy, pastoral life, and stories of medieval knights. In golden fields and sunsets of misty rose, one enters this scene with outstretched arms and lungs filled with clean country air and the scent of freshly cut hay. The undulating golden hills and rolling bales of hay seem to reach endlessly toward the soft pink sunset.
Artist Statement
While traveling through the French countryside, artist Alexey Steele was on a quest to capture ethereal moments projected by mysterious silhouettes and diffused hazy light as a way to interpret the inner spirit of this ancient land. Steele describes his instantaneous inspiration, “I spent a few days at my friend’s house in the Burgundy countryside, and became enchanted with the notion of the light’s ability to transform figures and shapes. When I stepped outside I noticed a field of newly mowed hay on the neighbor’s property. The angled rays of the setting sun transformed the already beautiful surroundings into a different world of gentle waves breaking on a field and presenting itself as a dreamy ocean. The larger hay rolls seemed to soften and began to resemble boats gently sailing on an expansive field that became a sea. There was a tall fence that separated me from the scene. I didn’t have time for second thoughts as the sunset was quickly fleeting. I grabbed my portable painting rig, flung it over the fence and followed the light to capture the beautiful moment on my canvas.”
