This original oil painting is inspired by the famous painting Ophelia (Shakespeare's Hamlet) by Pre-Raphaelites painter, Sir Henry Millais.

In the play, Ophelia, represents goodness, innocence and beauty, and the sorrowful loss of it. This, of course, is an oversimplified description, but it will help you to understand my design.

The Pre-Raphaelite paintings had a great influence in my early years. As a young arts student visiting London, England, I ran to view this, the most popular painting in the Tate Gallery, the way others are drawn to the Mona Lisa in the Louvre in Paris.

In the Millais painting, Ophelia is depicted in the moment before her death. She floats down a stream, singing as she prepares to drown. Her death moved Hamlet to great sorrow and grief in his understanding of what has been lost.

In my painting, an Ophelia-like character (Mother Nature?) is forever immortalized in the ice, witnessed only by a lone, wandering polar bear.

The intense, saturated colours and the detailed landscape of the Millais painting are replaced by a moody and limited palette.

The flowers Millais painted in the garland of the Ophelia painting, symbolize sorrow, death, beauty and more. The poppy, a symbol for death and sleep, is also evident.

Some predict the the polar bear, an almost magical creature, will be extinct by the end of the century. I hope we won't be like Hamlet, at the end of the story, grieving beauty and innocence lost.

40” x 30” x 1.5” oil painting

To purchase:

Live in Canada? Please use shopping cart below. Shipping and taxes are included.

Live in the USA, UK or elsewhere? Please click https://www.saatchiart.com/art/Painting-Polar-Bear-Witness-and-Madness-Ophelia-of-the-North/300029/1937562/view

Why Saatchi? As an individual artist I can never offer the excellent international shipping fees, quick delivery,  and guarantees the much larger Saatchi can offer. Saatchi Art is my affiliate gallery and I have happily been in partnership with them for years. All paintings still ship from my studio, and I lovingly and carefully package them for you to Saatchi’s strict guidelines (which are excellent and I use for all shipping). It is still me waiting at the studio door for DHL to arrive for pick up.