Dragon Picture Brighton Pavilion Orient Nights Zou

Print description

This dragon picture is an architectural art print of the West elevation of the Brighton Royal Pavilion with a group of East Asian classical dragons flying over it. The background echoes Chinese Victorian ornamentations with Art Deco notes. The colour palette ‘Orient Nights’ combines steel blue and mustard seed colours reminiscent of far away whispered tales and legends

Print details

I created this print from my original ink drawings to which I apply colour digitally. Printed on fine art paper using archival inks, the prints are available in sizes 30 x 90cm and  50 x 150cm as limited editions of 100. Each print individually signed and numbered.

Brighton Royal Pavilion

John Nash remodelled 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.

Dragons Picture

To draw my dragons I have looked at the 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 paper roll nearly nine metres long of 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.

Vertical Art

This print was the result of a bespoke project to create a pair of vertical prints.  You can explore the twin print by following this link  ‘Dragon Picture Brighton Pavilion Oriental Nights Zou’.

This print belongs to a series of new long vertical prints I have created to fit specific spaces where height is the predominant proportion and dimension. Ideal locations are for example This vertical art fits into special spaces like the either side of chimney breast spaces of the typical historic rooms or along staircases walls which are often double height spaces.