‘After Turner’, large contemporary oil painting by Charlie Schaffer

This superb abstract oil painting is by the artist Charlie Schaffer. The work forms part of Schaffer’s Old Master studies, a series of paintings after notable works by Old Master artists, completed onsite in London’s National Gallery.

The painting is based on ‘The Parting of Hero and Leander’ by J. M. W. Turner – part of the main collection of the National Gallery. The original Greek myth that Turner’s painting is based on tells of a Greek priestess Hero and her Turkish lover Leander. Leander would swim across the Hellespont every night to visit Hero, guided by the light of a lamp that Hero would hold. Turner’s painting takes place as they part, with the two figures hidden at the water’s edge. Cupid stands on the ledge above them, holding a lamp and torch. The painting foreshadows the tragic end to their tale, where the lamp blows out one night, causing Leander to drown in the river, and Hero to throw herself from the cliff to join him.

Schaffer’s version is a wild Impressionist take on Turner’s original, abstracting Turner’s figures and buildings into swirls of paint that encourage the viewer’s eyes to circulate the canvas. Hints of people and structures can be seen, yet they appear to dissolve into the surrounding brushstrokes, emphasising Schaffer’s masterful control of the brush. A riot of deep blues and reds, the painting effectively captures the drama of both Turner’s original and the myth itself.

The artist Charlie Schaffer is a London-based painter, whose work encompasses portraiture and self-portraiture as well as these Old Master studies. Studying at Central Saint Martins and the University of Brighton, Schaffer’s work has been shown in numerous exhibitions and is now held in various public and private collections around the world. Most notably, he was the recipient of the National Portrait Gallery’s BP Portrait Award in 2019.

This superb oil painting innovatively reimagines its Old Master inspiration, creating a truly contemporary piece that remains rooted in tradition.