Born in 1980 in Lausanne, Switzerland, Party studied at the Lausanne School of Art before undertaking an MA at The Glasgow School of Art. Classically trained, Party transforms the paradigm of portraiture of art history into a dialogue with both past and future. Speaking about his figurative paintings, Party remarks: “I’m trying to work with subjects that are not original. Subjects that have been, and still are, painted all the time. Like a portrait, or a cat. What fascinates me about these topics is their capacity to regenerate themselves at any period of history, and still be relevant to us. I also believe some subjects are always painted because they are an infinite source of meaning and inspiration” (the artist cited in Federica Tattoli, “Talking with the Swiss painter Nicolas Party”, Fruit of the Forest, December 2016). Rather than creating landscapes, still lives and portraits from real life, Party takes inspiration from other works in the history of these categories instead, and Grotto acts as an outstanding example.

Grotto is part of a new series of works by Nicolas Party which reinterprets art historical themes, created upon his return to Brussels following his exhibition at the Magritte Museum in 2018. This series of works was later featured in the artist’s solo show at Xavier Hufkens Gallery in 2019. The exhibition, also titled Grotto, featured three large soft pastel paintings, including the present work depicting the interior of grottos in monochromes of red, green and blue. They explored the long art-historical fascination with caves, with the present work paying specific homage to Caves of Manacor (c. 1901) by the Belgian painter William Degouve.

Party recalls being “totally stunned” upon viewing Picasso’s Tête de Femme (1921) at the Foundation Beyeler in 2013, and was inspired in particular by Picasso’s use of pastel in Tête de Femme, and the challenging and idiosyncratic medium has dominated his work ever since. The artist observes: “Oils allow you to endlessly retouch. With pastels it’s kind of the exact opposite. You can layer and layer, but you can’t start over. The nature of the medium is much more direct. Nothing dries or is wet – it stays exactly how it is” (the artist cited in Ted Loos, “Artist Nicolas Party Revives the Language of Pastel”, Cultured Mag, March 2019). Applying the soft chalk material with his fingertips with painterly precision, pastel best allows Party to mould the essence of his subjects in new and revelatory ways, to amplify physical presence and heighten emotional resonance. Party’s resulting works are simple, seductive and highly accessible, yet still engage in dialogue with the art-historical binaries of representation and abstraction, observation and imagination. In addition to paintings, Party creates large-scale public murals, sculptures and installation works that employ colour and intervention strategies to construct immersive experiences for viewers. The artist has been subject of numerous solo exhibitions at prestigious institutions worldwide, including the Magritte Museum, Brussels (2018); Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C. (2017); Hammer Museum, Los Angeles (2016); and the Modern Institute, Glasgow (2016).

1980年，帕爾蒂在瑞士洛桑市出生。他曾就讀洛桑藝術學院，及後前往格拉斯哥藝術學院攻讀碩士學位。他有系統地學習過古典藝術，並通過自己的創作，把藝術史裡的肖像、靜物與風景畫的固定形式轉化為過去與未來的對話。帕爾蒂談及自己的繪畫時說道：「我試著在研究那些非原創的題材，如肖像，或小貓，就是那些從古至今一直都有很多人去畫的題材。我之所以對這些題材感興趣，是因為它們在歷史的任何一段時間都可以重生，並且一直與我們息息相關。另外，我覺得某些題材可以引申出無限的意義和靈感，所以才會一直被畫出來」（引述自藝術家，費德里卡・塔托里撰，〈與瑞士畫家尼古拉・帕爾蒂的對話〉，《森林之果》，2016年12月）。故此，帕爾蒂的人、景、物作品並非以真實生活為本，而是從歷史上其他作品提取靈感，《洞穴》則是一個顯著的例子。

《洞穴》是尼古拉 · 帕爾蒂繼2018年在馬格里特博物館展示其作品後，回到布魯塞爾後創作的嶄新系列作品，旨在重新詮釋藝術歷史主題。這些作品及後在Xavier Hufkens畫廊2019年為藝術家舉辦的個展中亮相。該展與本作同題，以包含本作在內的三幅大型軟粉彩畫作領銜展覽主題，探索從文藝復興隱士至寫實主義藝術家，對石窟所蘊含的豐富歷史和哲學內涵延伸出不同的創作體現。當中，本作就受象徵派代表威廉·德古夫·德·昂克斯（William Degouve de Nuncques）的洞穴油畫啟發，描繪了石窟中的岩層連綿，用色的單一增添了洞穴的寂靜與深邃，與前人作品有異曲同工之妙。

2013年，帕爾蒂在貝耶勒基金會美術館看到的畢加索1921年作品《女子頭像》。他回憶起自己當時「完全被震撼了」，尤其是畢加索對粉彩的運用，對帕爾蒂影響極深。粉彩難以駕馭，但氣質獨特，成為他往後作品的主要媒材。帕爾蒂曾談到：「油彩可以不斷修改，但粉彩恰好相反，雖然可以逐層叠加，但不能再從頭開始；而且它的性質更直接，不會變乾或濕，畫出來是什麼樣，就會保持什麼樣」（引述自藝術家，泰德・魯斯撰，〈藝術家尼古拉・帕爾蒂的粉彩復興〉，《Cultured Mag》，2019年3月）。帕爾蒂用指尖仔細控制軟粉筆，猶如畫筆般準確；粉彩讓他得以用革新的手法展現畫中人的精髓，增強實體的存在感，亦加深情感的共鳴。完成後的作品簡潔單純，親切動人，同時加入了藝術史上各種具象與抽象、觀察與想像的對話。除繪畫以外，帕爾蒂也製作大型公眾壁畫、雕塑和裝置作品，運用色彩和干預策略，為觀者建立融入式藝術體驗。帕爾蒂曾在不少國際知名機構舉辦個展，包括布魯塞爾馬格利特博物館（2018年）、華盛頓赫希洪博物館和雕塑園（2017年）、洛杉磯漢默美術館（2016年），以及格拉斯哥 Modern Institute 畫廊（2016年）。