Breath Between Movements – Isabelle Moreau | Fine Art Print

The music stopped about four seconds ago, in the hottest part of the afternoon.

She has her back to you. The fan is closed in her hand. The yellow shawl has slipped off one shoulder and she has not bothered to fix it, because she is not finished. She is only resting one beat.

The part most people miss the first time

Her arm is already lifted. Nothing else about her has moved yet, but the next step is sitting in her shoulders, and once someone points it out you cannot stop seeing it. That is why the quiet in this picture feels like holding your breath.

Look at the shawl close up. The yellow is loaded on thick with a knife, in ridges, so the fabric carries all the movement her body is holding back. Isabelle Moreau works like this on purpose: “I paint the ten seconds before they notice you are there.” Nobody in her paintings ever looks up. A face turned away means she is not posing. The linen weave shows through under the thin paint, so the surface is part of the picture too.

Ruby, one of our critics, scored it and wrote: “The palette-knife accents and vibrant colors capture the tension and grace of the dancer beautifully.” Average score 8.33.

Living with her

Hang her where you pass: over the kettle, along a hallway, above a reading chair. Morning light cools the yellow down. By late afternoon it comes up hot and the whole room feels like it is about to move. People ask about her. You will end up telling them she is between beats.

What you actually get

Matte canvas with a visible weave, so it reads as paint rather than a photo of paint, and no window reflection bouncing back at you. It is stretched over solid wood an inch and a quarter deep and arrives ready to hang — one nail, two minutes, no frame to buy. The image wraps the edges, so it looks finished from the side as well as the front.

A useful rule: go about two thirds the width of whatever sits under it. Landscape 24 x 18 in (61 x 46 cm) is the one most people choose, at $149. Smaller 16 x 12 in (41 x 30 cm) is $129, and 32 x 24 in (81 x 61 cm) is $229. That is the price — a high quality print of a digital artwork, made to order in up to ten business days, free shipping in the continental US. No bidding, no number nobody can trace.

One honest thing

She is loud. Chrome yellow, hot colour, visible knife marks. In a cool minimal or corporate room she will fight everything around her. In a kitchen or a bedroom with wood, books or any colour at all, she settles in and the wall looks empty without her.

If that sounds like your room, take her home. If you want to sit with it, look through the rest of Isabelle’s cafe paintings — or follow her, and you will see the next dancer before anyone else does.

One is a piece. Two is a set. Three is a collection.

Almost nobody stops at one. A second work by the same hand turns a wall into a pairing. A third turns it into something you chose rather than something you bought. There are 6 other works by Isabelle Moreau available.

Brass Cooling Alone – Isabelle Moreau | Digital Download$19Bouquet Catching Light – Isabelle Moreau | Fine Art Print$29 – $69Price range: $29 through $69Clap Suspended Impossible – Isabelle Moreau | Fine Art Print$129 – $229Price range: $129 through $229Rhythm Still Resting – Isabelle Moreau | Digital Download$19Tray Tilting Chrome – Isabelle Moreau | Fine Art Print$29 – $69Price range: $29 through $69Strings Cooling Blue – Isabelle Moreau | Digital Download$19