{"id":15535,"date":"2025-06-04T19:16:56","date_gmt":"2025-06-04T17:16:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.artificialis.eu\/?page_id=15535"},"modified":"2025-12-30T19:14:08","modified_gmt":"2025-12-30T17:14:08","slug":"poppy-de-havilland","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.artificialis.eu\/?page_id=15535","title":{"rendered":"Poppy De Havilland"},"content":{"rendered":"

Born in 1996 in London, United Kingdom, Poppy De Havilland studied at the Wimbledon College of Art<\/a><\/span> (UAL), where she obtained her Fine Art BA degree. Mainly, her creations are paintings. Additionally, she takes photographs during her frequent journeys. On one hand these images show portraits, landscapes or particular buildings; on the other hand, there are pictures from paintings by other renown artists like Fra Angelico<\/a><\/span>, Pierro della Francesca<\/a><\/span>, Ghirlandaio<\/a><\/span> and Uccello<\/a><\/span>. Moreover, she is interested in sculpture, mainly of the Renaissance.<\/p>\n

These photographs are the source of inspiration for her paintings. This is partly reflected in the titles, composition and material. The earlier paintings<\/a><\/span> are held in dark colours and are primarily portraits. However, the persons seem to vanish behind a diaphanous curtain. Her later painting \u201cNoli me tangere<\/a><\/span>\u201d from 2019 revives this transparency. But the colour range is much more lightened, due to the evident model: Fra Angelico\u2019s fresco<\/a><\/span> with the same name. Even though the composition and colour shades are similar to the original, Magdalena and Jesus appear dissolved, which might be an expression for their transcendence.<\/p>\n

In Poppy\u2019s paintings from 2020 to 22<\/a><\/span> the protagonists, mostly animals, are also blurred, despite the bold colours. Here, a certain transcendence comes from the gold ground, which is a refence to earlier works from art history, even though the subjects are not always religious. The artist\u2019s more recent paintings<\/a><\/span> from 2023 on, abandon the gold ground and also the transparency of the characters. However, some protagonists attain their transcendence due to their state of suspense in the composition. An example is \u201cUnbound\u201d from 2023, which is our Artwork of the Month \/ June 2025<\/a><\/span>. Generally, the colour range is lighter than in the early paintings, but still the artist uses a mute palette. A reference to her favourite renaissance artists in this series is the landscape in the background and the presentation of the persons. This could be the posture or the hairstyle.<\/p>\n

Before painting with oil on canvas, Poppy works with AI diffusion models which are fed by her personal archive of artworks. From the results, she chooses appealing sections. Hereby, the artist\u2019s focus is on rare psychological moments that resonate with her and on fragments that have a timeless quality. Consecutively, she refines the arisen images progressively and translates the digital concepts on the painting surface.<\/p>\n

After her works have entered in various private collections, Poppy started to participate in group exhibitions. In 2024, her paintings were on view at the Women in Art Fair<\/a><\/span>, London and at the Richard Heller Gallery<\/a><\/span>, Santa Monica, United States. In September 2025, she will contribute to a collective show in Rome, Italy. Her first solo exhibition is scheduled for spring 2026 in Los Angeles, United States.<\/p>\n

Poppy lives and works in London.<\/p>\n

www.poppydehavilland.com<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Artwork of the Month \/ June 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n