Art by Andrea Tana
End Page: Immortalize Your House
January 1, 2005
The Fainting Couch in Los Angeles, a furniture and antiques store on Beverly
Boulevard, does not normally do double duty as an art gallery, but owner Claudia
Benvenuto made an exception upon seeing the work of international artist Andrea
Tana. “I connected with her paintings immediately,” says Benvenuto, whose store
showcased Tana’s paintings and etchings last autumn. “Her work seems like it’s
from another time–a bygone era where people still took a moment to sit down and
relax. [Her pieces] have a historical and romantic feeling that complemented the
antiques of our store very well.”
The American-born Tana divides her time between London, Paris and Italy, locales
that have greatly influenced her work. “I frequently paint what is around me,
whether it’s an interior of my studio or landscapes of the places I’m visiting,”
Tana says. “But no matter where I am, the atmospheres I paint are always light
and cheerful–I’m not interested in spreading despair.”
Inspired by Japanese woodblock painting, as were Matisse and Picasso, Tana
has developed a body of work with international mass appeal. “Ikea liked what I
was doing so much that they asked to sell posters of my work,” she says of the
Danish furnishings retailer, which has sold more than 1 million of her posters
worldwide. Tana’s contemporary work bears a vintage aesthetic that creates an
air of coziness and familiarity. “I’ve been told that my paintings let people
in,” she says. “The interiors I depict are my own, so they reflect something
real and relatable.”
While large-scale corporate commissions have occupied her work schedule for
several years, the artist is content to be back in her studio, focusing on her
more personal work. “I started doing more etchings because I wanted to reproduce
certain pieces,” says Tana, who is currently collaborating with poet Derek
Walcott on a book for the Gallerie Maeght in Paris. “I like the idea of
limited-edition prints that give more people access to my work.”
Andrea Tana, andrea@andreatana.com
The Fainting
Couch, 323.930.0106
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