Description: This is a visually stunning and magnificent Fine Vintage French Modern Surrealist Fantasy Mythology Goddess Oil Painting on Canvas, by the enigmatic French Modernist painter, Erka. I could not find much information on this painter, aside from a few excerpts which were found on French language art websites, but perhaps you know more about her or her work? This painting depicts the celestial princess Vega, who is prominently featured in Chinese cosmological mythology. She is resting on a large planet, reminiscent of Earth. She cradles a smaller planet with her left arm, and points her divine right pointer finger downward, toward a small planet or moon. The goddess is rendered with pale skin, European facial features, and curly white hair and gold eyes. She is mostly unclothed, aside from a white robe with deep purple and gold embellishment that hangs along the lower half of her body. In the distance, cosmic fog, nebulas, and celestial phenomena highlight peripherals of the image. Signed, dated and titled in the lower right corner: ERKA 1987. Vega." Additionally, this piece is signed, titled, signed and dated on the verso of the canvas: "Vega. Erka 1987." Also, there is the remnant of an old French exhibition label on the center stretcher bar on the verso. This impressive painting is approximately 38 x 45 1/2 x 2 1/4 inches (including frame.) Actual artwork is approximately 31 3/4 x 39 1/4 inches. Very good condition for age, with some light speckles of craquelure to the painted surface, and mild scuffing and edge wear to the original vintage painted wood frame (please see photos.) Due to the large size and weight of this piece, S&H costs will be unavoidably high. However, Free Local Pickup from Los Angeles County, California is also an option. Acquired from an old collection in Pasadena, California. If you like what you see, I encourage you to make an Offer. Please check out my other listings for more wonderful and unique artworks! About this Artwork: "Vega was celestial princess, a goddess of the sky. Immortal she may have been, yet she was weary as it seemed she would live in eternity alone. One day Altair, a mortal, caught the eye of Vega. She descended from the heavens to greet him, and as they got to know each other she fell deeply in love." Each year, the Chinese celebrate a love story that is written in the stars.The legend goes that there was once two lovers, a human named Altair and a Goddess of the Heavens, Vega. As Princess of the skies, Vega was very lonely, isolated traveling among the heavens. One day she saw a handsome man sitting beneath a great tree and went closer to hear the music he made on his flute. He was surprised to see her but also delighted, and he fell in love with her immediately. She came to visit him over the following days, smitten with the Earthly cow herder. She vowed that one day they will be together in the Heavens, no matter what.In some variations of the tale it is her mother that finds out about the forbidden love.In others, it is her father. But the result is the same. They forbid Vega from seeing this mortal and drag her away. In a cruel twist of fate, the promise she made comes true and the two lovers are placed in the skies, though far apart, forever separated by the Heavens. The Great Celestial River (The Milky Way) lay between them, Vega part of the constellation Lyra, and Altair in the constellation Aquila.It was said that once a year, on the 7th day of the 7th month of the traditional Chinese calendar, a bridge of magpies forms, allowing the lovers to be together for just one day. But it was not always possible to meet. The myth says that on this day, if the rain falls, then the lovers were not able to see one another and these are the tears of Vega falling from the heavens.The tale of Vega and Altair offers hope that even in times of great separation and against all odds those connected by the heart may still be together, though the wait may be long. Where there is great love, there is always a chance. Zhinü is the goddess of weaving and the star Vega in Chinese mythology. She was the youngest of seven daughters of the Jade Emperor. It is believed that she weaved her father’s royal robes out of the clouds. She is identified as the star Vega in the constellation Lyra.Zhinü was a legendary figure and main character in the popular Chinese folk tale The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl. The earliest record of this myth is traced to over 2600 years ago. Zhinü was the seventh daughter of the Jade Emperor. One day she came down to Earth and, while bathing in a river, met Niulang, a cowherd. Niulang was so amazed by her beauty that he instantly fell in love with her and stole her clothes. Without her clothes, Zhinü was unable to return to heaven. Instead, she decided to marry Niulang. Niulang farmed in the fields while Zhinü weaved at home and took care of their children. Zhinü was so deeply in love and for so long that she no longer desired a return to heaven. However, their relationship was discovered by her father, Jade Emperor, who ordered the Queen Mother of the West to bring Zhinü back to Heaven. Niulang was very upset when he found out his wife had been taken back to heaven. Niulang's ox, who saw the events unfold, built a boat for him to carry his children up to Heaven. The ox was once the god of cattle but was punished after he had violated the laws of Heaven.Just when Niulang and his sons were about to reach Heaven, the Queen Mother of the West punished them by creating the River of Heaven, or Milky Way, across the middle of the sky, separating the two lovers forever. Heartbroken, Zhinü became the star Vega and Niulang the star Altair.Eventually, the Queen Mother of the West allowed them to meet once a year on the seventh day of the seventh month when a flock of magpies swarm into the sky and create a bridge for them to cross. The day is celebrated as the "Qixi Festival", also known as China's Valentine’s Day. Today the Chinese phrase "Niulang Zhinü" is commonly used to describe loving married couples.The story was selected as one of China's Four Great Folktales by the "Folklore Movement" in the 1920s—the others being the Legend of the White Snake, Lady Meng Jiang, and Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingta. The Tale of Vega and Altair (Myth) This is a tale of two stars apart from one another. There was Vega, a celestial princess, a goddess of the sky. Yet, she lived all alone in her immortality.One fine day, a mortal named Altair caught the eye of Vega. He stole Vega’s attention as well as her heart with the lovely melody he played.Still, how the cruel twist of fate decided their destiny to separate as Vega vowed they would be together in heaven one day. Somewhat, the promise became true.The two lovers were placed in the skies, though far apart and separated by the Great Celestial River, also known as the Milky Way. One in the east and one in the west.Only once a year could they reunite with the help of magpies to form a bridge, allowing them to fulfill their longing for just one day. About the Artist: "The flexibility of Erka’s stokes gives the illusion of movement. The harmony of colours that meet and collide adds a dimension of sound. Her paintings are vibrant and lead the viewer into an imaginary world where anything is possible. One must enter into the colours and shapes, freeing the imagination and seeking out the subject matter." Erka exhibits her paintings at Ile Rousse A painter sensitive to the expression of her time, Erka reveals herself through some twenty abstract, colourful and poetic canvases.She herself defines her work as "Abstract Expressionism". Erka is an exuberant painter, she has been living in painting since she was a child. She has been painting since she was seven years old. She seems never to be able to do without this form of expression. Once, however, she stopped painting. She was in the grandstand that collapsed in Furiani. Wounded in body and mind, it took her ten years to recover. Today her studio is at home, in Biguglia near Bastia.From 26 April 2009 to 3 May 2009 , Festival of Contemporary Art, Calcatoggio, SouthCorsica From 06 June to 25 June 2009 : Fronti di Mare Gallery - Propriano Erka (France) My work is at the border of the irrational. I paint what I can recognize as a "new form of the world". My painting arises for no reason. It is an act that nothing justifies, sometimes as a fleeting, rapid emotion, "the gaze that sees quickly", as if there was a threat. Something exists behind the proposed image. Death is never far away. The theme is close to my heart. I have to question painting as an anthropological hook. When I work on abstract works, I try to bear witness to the chances of the studio that must be assimilated and organized. We must nourish the canvas so that time can do its work.What if the work was the style?What if painting made the artist?Figurative or abstract, my work is situated in a universe between two.Painting as an additional organ in which contemporary history is inscribed. I approach painting without ever knowing what will happen and it becomes a mirror world, and in this mirror I need an infinite consciousness to use my intuition in the service of my work. Provide a strong and instant emotional shock. Everything takes root in the roots of my life and my destiny. It is an instinctual art from which I must draw the sufferings for an interior evolution. Malraux said: "Interrogate the world in order to reach another". This is exactly what it is. I have a panicked curiosity of the unspeakable from which it is necessary to extract the rhythms, the energies, the visions: to paint with a direct perception of my inner states. I give everything to painting because it gives me another world.
Price: 2750 USD
Location: Orange, California
End Time: 2024-11-24T01:31:49.000Z
Shipping Cost: 45 USD
Product Images
Item Specifics
All returns accepted: ReturnsNotAccepted
Artist: Erka
Signed By: Erka
Size: Large
Signed: Yes
Period: Contemporary (1970 - 2020)
Title: "Vega"
Material: Canvas, Oil
Region of Origin: California, USA
Framing: Framed
Subject: Angels, Asia, Fairies, Figures, France, Ladies, Mythology, Outer Space, Silhouettes, Sky, Stars, Women, Planets
Type: Painting
Year of Production: 1987
Original/Licensed Reproduction: Original
Item Height: 38 in
Style: Chinese, Fantasy, Figurative Art, Modernism, Portraiture, Surrealism
Theme: Art, Astrology, Cultures & Ethnicities, Events & Festivals, Exhibitions, Fairy Tales, Fantasy, Mythological, Nature, People, Portrait, Religious, Royalty
Features: One of a Kind (OOAK)
Production Technique: Oil Painting
Country/Region of Manufacture: France
Handmade: Yes
Item Width: 45 1/2 in
Time Period Produced: 1980-1989
