I’ve maintained a personal fascination with Charles Baudelaire since the 1980s. My introduction to him was through his 1863 essay ‘Le Peintre de la Vie Moderne’ (The Painter of Modern Life). It’s one of those key art historical texts that used to get pushed your way to explain the idea of the ‘Modern’ in Modern Art. From this I discovered his poetry and one of his most well known collections ‘Les Fleurs de Mal’ (The Flowers of Evil). These drawings were not made to illustrate specific poems from within the collection – they were a response to the spirit of what the writing expressed to me. They were first exhibited at Chateaulin in Bretagne and later in London in 2015.

‘les fleurs du mal’ – 5, conte and pastel on paper, 22 x 22 cm

‘les fleurs du mal’ – 1, conte and pastel on paper, 22 x 22 cm

‘les fleurs du mal’ – 2, conte and pastel on paper, 22 x 22 cm

‘les fleurs du mal’ – 3, conte and pastel on paper, 22 x 22 cm

‘les fleurs du mal’ – 4, conte and pastel on paper, 22 x 22 cm

‘les fleurs du mal’ – 6, conte and pastel on paper, 22 x 22 cm

‘les fleurs du mal’ – 7, conte and pastel on paper, 22 x 22 cm

‘les fleurs du mal’ – 8, conte and pastel on paper, 22 x 22 cm

‘les fleurs du mal’ – 9, conte and pastel on paper, 22 x 22 cm

‘les fleurs du mal’ – 10, conte and pastel on paper, 22 x 22 cm

‘les fleurs du mal’ – 11, conte and pastel on paper, 22 x 22 cm

‘les fleurs du mal’ – 12, conte and pastel on paper, 22 x 22 cm

‘les fleurs du mal’ – 13, conte and pastel on paper, 22 x 22 cm

‘les fleurs du mal’ – 14, conte and pastel on paper, 22 x 22 cm

‘les fleurs du mal’ – 15, conte and pastel on paper, 22 x 22 cm

‘les fleurs du mal’ – 16, conte and pastel on paper, 30 x 40 cm

‘les fleurs du mal’ – 17, conte and pastel on paper, 30 x 30cm

‘les fleurs du mal’ – 18, conte and pastel on paper, 30 x 40 cm

‘les fleurs du mal’ – 19, conte and pastel on paper, 30 x 40 cm

‘les fleurs du mal’ – 20, conte and pastel on paper, 30 x 30 cm

‘les fleurs du mal’ – 21, conte and pastel on paper, 30 x 30 cm

‘les fleurs du mal’ – 22, conte and pastel on paper, 30 x 30 cm

‘les fleurs du mal’ – 23, conte and pastel on paper, 20 x 24 cm

‘les fleurs du mal’ – 24, conte and pastel on paper, 30 x 30 cm

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