Seeking beauty: Macha Chmakoff

I love, love, love this artist's work. I discovered Macha Chmakoff during my spring 2009 Luke class, when one of our assignments was to bring in a piece of artwork that represented something from Luke's gospel. I found this painting and thought it was breathtaking. The copy I printed is still on my fridge (or was, until I packed it).


"Magnificat"




Her site includes several paintings relating to Mary: scenes of the annunciation, visitation, magnificat, and nativity. I love them all. Here are a couple more of my favorites:


"Annonciation Orange"




"Visitation"




The rest of her biblically-themed work depicts a wide range of Old and New Testament stories and motifs in color palettes ranging from the bold examples above to shades of gray.


"Les visiteurs d'Abraham" (Abraham's visitors)




"L'Ascension"




Unfortunately, the site is in French, and the titles of the paintings are sometimes crucial to the meaning. If you're so inclined, you can use a translator tool like Google for help. To get you started, here are some of the main links:

Evangiles (Gospels): paintings inspired by stories in the four gospels
Thèmes bibliques (Biblical themes): contains links to The 7 Days of Creation, The 7 Last Words, Scenes from the Old and New Testaments, and more.

The images I've included here are all taken from the artist's website and found in either Evangiles or Scènes de l'Ancien et du Nouveau Testament. Her landscapes, people, and still life pieces are also lovely. If you're navigating, "Accueil" takes you to the homepage.

The only information I can find about Macha Chmakoff is on the back of her book, which says she is a psychologist and psychoanalyst, as well as a painter. She studied theology at the Catholic Institute of Paris.