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Philippe Bertho - Charles et Polo
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Philippe Bertho’s unique masterful blending of surrealism, trompe l’oeil and realistic portrait styles allow him to open intimate windows to the human soul and provide glimpses of man encountering the absurdity of the modern world.
In this image Charles et Polo Bertho places three dominate circles across the middle of the canvas, each progressively larger from right to left. The circles are actually shaded openings into a space covered with identical, uniform, rigidly patterned circle. This farthest left circle is opulently decorated with elaborate gold filigree. Bertho focuses our attention on the two human figures in the painting - the comfortable, older man casually reading a newspaper while sitting in the ornate circle, and the other young figure scrambling to hoist himself into the circle on the far right.
The surrealist landscape of this painting is typical of Bertho’s work. He is drawn to the organic simplicity and immutability of the circle in all of his paintings to express the indifference of the modern world and the repetitiveness of much of man’s existence on earth. “The circles are always with me,” he says, “I have to have them.” Inside the openings the circles are uniform, unchanging, while the background for the three windows is punctuated with bubbles and dominated by seemingly random, chaotic drips and splashes of color.
Bertho places his figures in a surreal landscape that is immutable, non-responsive to the presence of man. His intimate portraits provide unguarded glimpses of man’s innermost thoughts and aspirations. The two figures in Charles et Polo have no idea that anyone is watching them. And they are as oblivious to each other and to the potential of human contact as the background is indifferent to them. As one figure contentedly, almost smugly, reads his paper, the other scrambles to pull himself up to sit in the circle nearby. Both are going about their lives in an isolated space, ignoring the things they have in common and each other.
The bubbles throughout Bertho’s work represent souls. In this painting, he has provided glimpses into two of these souls, one who is comfortable, the other, struggling. While it is not possible to know Bertho’s precise intent with this painting, this image provides several rich potential interpretations. Instead of recognizing their common humanity and shared longings in an absurd, chaotic world, both Charles and Polo (are these indeed their names) go about their lives apparently oblivious to each other and to the world. Bertho’s masterful skill, combining the austere surreal with ware realism and humor, guides us to explore his painting’s many layers of meaning led by his gentle hand.
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