Arrangement in Yellow and Peach

For several years, Michael Harnish has collaborated with Yasmine Mei, drawing inspiration from her floral arrangements. His interest in painting flowers was first sparked by encountering the work of 19th-century painter Fantin-Latour at the Musée d’Orsay in Paris. Building on this lineage while forging a new approach, Harnish paints florals on a larger-than-life scale, inviting viewers to immerse themselves in the intricacies of each arrangement. In magnifying his subject, he opens up a space where abstraction emerges — leaves, petals, and stems transforming into fields of rhythm and movement.

Through this scale and approach, Harnish shifts the familiar genre of floral painting into something unexpected, allowing the recognizable to dissolve into mystery. These works extend beyond representation, offering a sophisticated reimagining of a timeless subject, where the delicate and ephemeral become both monumental and enduring.