Marianne Perry Salas

FLORA II
Recent Paintings

“I love the tradition of botanical drawings, detailed portraits with small drawings to the side to show more closely intriguing features of the plant. These floral and botanical paintings by Marianne Perry Salas explore a range of perspectives on this idea of plant portraits, and are the fruits of an intense few years of gardening that often eclipsed the artist's time in her studio. And others yet, hover somewhere between these poles. This orchid — floating, isolated, its roots lifted from their soil covering — somehow feels more like a nude than a botanical painting.

Investigating the shared territory of the artist and the botanists interest, she has painted some plants as traditional botanicals, as an engineer might draw the workings of a beloved machine. And other plants are painted in situ living in their cultivated or wild homes; a live still life, if you will.”

Amy Chase Gulden
Review of “Flora” 2006

Works in Collections:

Aetna Life Insurance Co., Harford, CT
Bellevue Hospital Center, NY, NY
Brooklyn College, Brooklyn, NY
Channel 13 Collection, NY, NY
Grand Metropolitan Estates, London
Hospital Corporation of America, TN
Mechanics Savings Bank, CT
River Thames Assurance Company, London
U.S. State Department, Art in Embassies Program