Lily van Bienen, an artist living in France and in the Netherlands, pursues her passion for flowers in her big scale oil paintings in which she uses techniques of old masters and alla prima.

Born in Russia, married to a Dutchman, the artist is fascinated by flower pieces of old Dutch masters like Jan van Huysum, Rachel Ruysch and Jan Davidsz de Heem.

For her own paintings she chooses single flowers and creates a harmonious entity of tonal rhythms and temperatures.

Student of Frank Janca – graduate of New York Art Students’ League, and Gary Jenkins, Lily found quickly her own style of personal flower portraits. Her paintings are saturated with positive feelings and radiate joy of life and happiness. Her characteristic abstract backgrounds bring the flower portrait forward creating, in its entity, the mood of the painting.

Lily graduated cum laude from Moscow Linguistic University and started painting in 2009 after a successful career in television industry.

Lily finds her inspiration in flowers standing out of the crowd, be it their elegant movement or tender defaults. Painting these flowers the painter wants to bring the beauty of nature and its elegance and refinement in our high- tech modern homes and offices.

“I believe our stressful modern world can be positively influenced by the beauty, tenderness and passion of the flowers”, says the artist.

“My paintings work well with all kinds of décor, home or business.
I am happy when I paint, and my paintings convey happiness to the people’s room they are in.
I sign all my original paintings and provide a certificate of authenticity with each piece of art I make.

I use standard linnen canvases and high quality oil paints ( Schminke, Old Holland etc.) with high pigment content which is the best way to reveal the beauty of the painting. I use Fremish medium which was used by old masters and which gives a beautiful warm gloss to my flower colours. When the painting is 12 months old, the colours dry fully and I varnish it to protect from damage.

My prices are fair. I ship my paintings in carton boxes insured against any damage or theft. As the paintings are ready to hang, the collector just opens the package and puts the painting on the wall. There is no maintenance needed.

If the collector for any reason wants to return the painting, he can do it within 1 month’s time after the painting has arrived.

In spring I visit tulip fields, have always tulips in my house. They are living creatures for me, I talk to them and watch how they grow and become real beauties. I want to capture a moment of their lives, an instant sensation, with or without an insect or animal attracted by its beauty, before this moment disappears. I am attracted by this fragility of the moment of their lives and want to register it.

It makes me very romantic just to look at the flower I paint.

I am fascinated by tulips which existed in the Middle Ages and which were painted by great flower masters van Huysum, de Heem, Ruysch. These tulips were imported with a virus ( were sick) and that gave them spectacular colours. One can see similar tulips in Dutch Botanical Gardens, English Tulip Society grows real virus tulips.”

Lily holds the Silver Award 2014 from Artmajeur; view the award here, and on their website at www.artmajeur.com/lilyvanbienen.

Lily’s works can be found at www.art.com.

Lily works with Art Licensing International.

Exhibitions in France, Netherlands, Spain, Italy.

Her paintings are in private collections in the USA, Germany, Russia, Netherlands, Italy, France, Serbia, Switzerland and South Africa.

You can contact Lily by clicking here…