Natasza Zurek

A portrait of G.I. Gurdjieff
Oil on panel
8”x10”

A friend asked me to paint this commissioned portrait of Gurdjieff, a philosopher, mystic and spiritual teacher who traveled through western Russia, Europe and America in the early 1900’s. His teachings are known as the Fourth Way and are based on the premise that man is asleep even when he is awake, and our purpose as human beings is to awaken out of the horror of the situation into to a higher consciousness and self-awareness by developing our focus, attention and energy, thus giving ourselves the opportunity to fulfill our higher potential.

I am particularly proud of this piece because the reference was a black and white photograph and I invented the skin tones. I had fun experimenting with Old Holland colors caput mortum violet and golden green, which are colors I normally would not use in a portrait, but the b&w reference opened up the freedom to do whatever I want.

#gurdjieff
#gigurdjieff