"Parquete Marfil" by Claudio Bravo

This still life painted by Claudio Bravo in 1967 is one of many in a series of paintings depicting packages and wrapping paper. This piece, a very large one at 59-by-78 3/4-inches, and was estimated to be around 1.1 million and was later bought for a record breaking $1,439,500. Needless to say Bravo sells. Bravo has found a formula. The aesthetic of Bravo's still-life's are nearly perfect in terms of recreating what was originally in front of him. The painterly quality is of an aesthetic found in Velasquez, which he is clearly influenced by having spent time in Madrid in the 1960's. Personally, Bravo does not do it for me. Yes the quality of paintings are nearly perfect and yes his use of light and shadow gives each piece an almost three dimensional feel, but what is missing for me is soul and content. Bravo is a machine reproducing the same work for years. From a purely technical standpoint he is amazing, other then that I'd probably say Ferris Buehler's Day Off is a more interesting work of art.