Olivier O. Olivier, The Return of the Prodigal Elephant, 1998

In this series, the elephant’s evolution is driven by a desire to indulge in the pleasures of painting: “The slow fusion of the wearer’s body and the elephant’s leg is first and foremost a source of virtuosity and pictorial games.” Olivier O. Olivier, Paintings

According to artist Thieri Foulc, the monk-like men in long gray tunics were inspired by a 15th-century sculpture in the Louvre: the tomb of Philippe Pot, Seneschal to the Duke of Burgundy, where veiled penitents carry the recumbent. The famous penitent motif can also be found on the sumptuous 15th-century tombs of the Dukes of Burgundy. In this sense, Olivier O. Olivier paints from works rather than from life, and is a true classical painter.