Dragon print Brighton Pavilion Crimson and Blue Samson Triptych

Print description

The title of this print Dragon artwork might imply that Dragons created this art piece. Quite possibly! These dragons, full of fun and mischief, pullulate this architectural West elevation of the Brighton Royal pavilion. The colour pallete of crimson and steel blue express fiery energy. The background uses Chinese Victorian and Regency motives.

Print details

This print was the result from a private commission by M. Samson. She contacted me to create a new dynamic piece with my dragons and the Brighton Pavilion. The result is a tryptic that can be either framed as one piece or as three art prints. This art print is available in the following formats:

Triptych art print A0 x 3 formats. Art print size 252 x 119 cm or three AO size formats, each one 84 x 119 cm approx (33.1 x 46.8inch).
Triptych art print A1 x 3 formats. Art print size 178 x 84 cm  or three A1 size formats, each one 594 x 841mm (23.4 x 33.1 inch).
Triptych art print A2 x 3 formats.. Art print size 126  x59.4 cm  or three A2 size formats, each one 420 x 594mm (16.5 x 23.4 inch).
Triptych art print A3 x 3 formats. Art print size 89 x 42 cm  or three A3 size formats, each one 297 x 420mm (11.7 x 16.5 inch).

Brighton Royal Pavilion

John Nash remodelled The Brighton Royal Pavilion into what we can see today in glorious  Indo-Saracenic style. The works of the Marine Pavilion began in 1815 and took seven years to complete. George chose architect John Nash who proposed an Indian style in response to the design of the new stable block. Nash was also inspired by landscape gardener Humphrey Repton (who had published designs for a new palace based on Indian architectural forms) and based many of his ideas on a publication called Oriental Scenery by Thomas and William Daniell (1795-1808).

The complex composition of domes, towers and minarets created a romantic exterior. Either side of the central large dome are two towers that serviced the interior rooms over the Saloon, one with a staircase, the other with a hoist. To achieve a picturesque effect the rendered surfaces of the Royal Pavilion were painted to create a unified vision of a building made of Bath stone.

Dragon Artwork

To draw my dragons I have looked at Masterpieces of Chinese Paintings.

In 2013 I was fortunate to visit the iconic exhibition at the V&A in London ‘Masterpieces of Chinese Paintings 700-1900.’ This exhibition had some of the most remarkable examples of Chinese painting from 1200 years of tradition.

At this exhibition, the artwork ‘Nine Dragons’ struck me as an absolute wonder. It is a nearly nine metres paper roll with beautiful ink drawings of dragons created by an artist called Chen Rong in around 1244. It was lent to the V&A Museum by the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.

‘Nine Dragons’ is considered the oldest and finest dragon scroll in South Asian Art. The design expresses these mythical creatures in different conjectures and attitudes amidst clouds, water and mountains and represents the dynamic forces of nature in Daoism.