Red Bead

Painting on canvas from my popular Puppets series . This painting by Max Horst Sokolowski titled "Red Bead" depicts a doll-like figure sitting on a wooden surface, wearing a crown and a decorative collar. The figure has a somber expression and is dressed in red and black. To the right, a large bird’s head with a prominent eye and beak peers into the room. The background features dark, muted tones with a hint of a landscape painting, creating an intriguing and slightly surreal atmosphere.

Follow

I am full-time contemporary Australian painter having completed a Master Degree at the European Academy of Arts in 1997. I generally paint under the name "Max Horst". Exploring the nature of people and the relationships between them, my paintings are very often short stories of small,daily moments of life. I distill these relationships through simplified forms and shapes, developing my own code of symbols - a code which is constantly changing and developing over time.In my quest for simplicity and honesty I draw much of my inspiration from cave paintings and naive art, “because I find them very honest as a form of art”.Using oil, acrylic, watercolor, gouache, I may mix them with drawing techniques. Natural pigments of earth colors are the base of my palette. With an intuitive preoccupation with color, form and line my work belies a carefully considered composition and an appreciation of the nature of human interaction.