2023
40” x 30”
Oil on Canva

The Olympia Moderna

The Olympia Moderna

(Left to Right): Pop art, Art Nouveau, Impressionism & Expressionism.

This painting, inspired by Manet’s Olympia, is my love letter to art history. It brings together my four favorite movements: Pop Art, Art Nouveau, Impressionism, and Expressionism, each represented in a different quadrant of the canvas. By weaving them into a single composition, I honor the past while reshaping it into a personal canon that reimagines how women, beauty, and presence have been portrayed across time.

  • (1950s–1970s)
    In the top left quadrant, stacked faces in bright, flat colors recall the boldness of Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein. The repetition flattens individuality into icon, echoing how Pop Art transformed everyday people and objects into cultural products. This quadrant sets a playful but critical tone, showing how identity can be consumed just like mass media.

  • (1890–1910)
    The central robed woman channels the elegance of Art Nouveau, with soft outlines and ornamental calm. She holds a bouquet almost like a sacred object, echoing the movement’s devotion to nature, beauty, and flowing design.

  • (1860s–1880s)
    The lower left quadrant dissolves into loose strokes and airy fabric folds. Impressionism sought to capture fleeting light and movement rather than rigid detail, and this section reflects that energy. The unfinished quality of the brushwork becomes its strength, proving that a moment, even if imperfect, can still feel eternal.

  • (1905–1930s)
    The reclining nude, inspired by Manet’s Olympia, is reimagined with raw brushwork and intensity. Expressionism was about exposing inner emotion through distortion and force, and here the figure’s gaze is steady, direct, and impossible to ignore. Vulnerability and defiance converge, turning what was once an objectified form into a presence filled with power.

Research and Methodology

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Nathy Peluso - Poster Design