Bio-Mireille Duchesne | Oak And Oil Gallery

Mireille Duchesne

Mireille was born and raised in Normandie; the province of France so loved by the Impressionists. She realized quite early that she was an artist. As a young adult, Mireille studied art at the Ecole of Beaux Arts and Universite’ de Rowen in France. She traveled extensively, living all over France and the western coast of sub-Saharan Africa before settling in the States and continuing her studies at the Arts Student League in NYC. Trained as a classical painter in the tradition of Chiaroscuro, (Light and Dark) the artist paints mainly in oils and pastels, after the tradition of 18th century French painter, Jean Chardin.
Her still-life paintings share a narrative with the viewer, one which is, paradoxically, alive.
In experimenting outside of her classical training, the artist has been further developing her portrayal of the internal with color, composition, light, and movement.
There is a more deliberate interrogation of the self at play on the canvas.
Mireille has received numerous awards for her oil paintings and pastels.

Artist's own words

At an early age I was in awe of the wonderful Chiaroscuro paintings from the masters. I loved, and still do, the tension and drama between the dark and the light, I knew I wanted to paint this way.
For years I painted still life with great enthusiasm, but I felt I had more to give and explore by leaving my comfort zone.
I ventured into landscapes, painting from memory and using the same techniques I had mastered with chiaroscuro.
Painting is my life passion and within that passion I have discovered and appease my restless creativity and found new ways of expression, from still life paintings to landscapes, from portraits and abstracts, to what I will paint next, my artistic journey continues.

About Chiaroscuro

Chiaroscuro, (from Italian chiaro, “light,” and scuro, “dark”), technique employed in the visual arts to represent light and shadow as they define three-dimensional objects.

Some evidence exists that ancient Greek and Roman artists used chiaroscuro effects, but in European painting the technique was first brought to its full potential by Leonardo da Vinci in the late 15th century in such paintings as his Adoration of the Magi (1481).

Thereafter, chiaroscuro became a primary technique for many painters, and by the late 17th century the term was routinely used to describe any painting, drawing, or print that depended for its effect on an extensive gradation of light and darkness.

Mireille Duchesne

​Chiaroscuro, (from Italian chiaro, “light,” and scuro, “dark”), technique employed in the visual arts to represent light and shadow as they define three-dimensional objects.

Some evidence exists that ancient Greek and Roman artists used chiaroscuro effects, but in European painting the technique was first brought to its full potential by Leonardo da Vinci in the late 15th century in such paintings as his Adoration of the Magi (1481).

Thereafter, chiaroscuro became a primary technique for many painters, and by the late 17th century the term was routinely used to describe any painting, drawing, or print that depended for its effect on an extensive gradation of light and darkness.​​

Chiaroscuro, (from Italian chiaro, “light,” and scuro, “dark”), technique employed in the visual arts to represent light and shadow as they define three-dimensional objects.

Thereafter, chiaroscuro became a primary technique for many painters, and by the late 17th century the term was routinely used to describe any painting, drawing, or print that depended for its effect on an extensive gradation of light and darkness.