Lain Faulkner

Iain Faulkner is a Scot born in Glasgow in 1973. From an early age Iain had an interest in art, attending Glasgow School of Art and in 1966 left with a BA (honours) degree in Fine Art.

Unlike his contemporaries, Iain Faulkner did not pursue the usual route but chose the more demanding and difficult route of figurative painting. It was a good move because, by the age of 29, his endeavours and commitment have brought success in his relatively short career. His last four shows in both London and New York selling out.  He has also had successful shows in France, Switzerland, Spain and Italy.

His work has a feeling of time gone by with many of his works containing a solitary figure, wearing braces looking out to sea or land.  You could say that Iain Faulkner paints moments of contemplation.  They reflect those moments in life when you pause, think about a person or something. Maybe it is the beauty of a sunset or the vista in front of your eyes.

There is sadness in some of his works and a feeling of solitude, melancholy and loneliness which viewers find intriguing.  Maybe it’s the mystery or the dramatic. “What is he thinking?” or “what is he reminded of?”

They say a picture paints a thousand words.  Ian’s pictures do that because he relies on the strong, powerful images to give impact as there is seldom any narrative.

His colour palette is limited also which lends itself to the dramatic.  There is a marked contrast between the light and dark tonal parts of his work.  Ian Faulkner tends to only use two or three colours in most of his paintings, but each of his images is striking and powerful.

Iain Faulkner’s work is popular because it takes the viewer back to a time when everything moved at a slower pace and his work has a feeling of calm and tranquillity about it that the buying public has taken to heart.

Although Iain Faulkner’s originals these days have a high selling price because of his popularity, he produces signed limited edition prints that are much more affordable.  All his prints come with a ‘certificate of authenticity.’ However, because his work is in such demand, his prints sell out rapidly.  Most of his editions are 150 in number and each individually signed by him.  Many of the iconic images he has produced have sold out and only available on the secondary market.  His prints are produced by the giclee method on good quality cotton rag paper.

These are some of the images currently available:

London Evening, NY view, Reunion, Auction Day, Exposure, travel writer, Flow, Contemplating Return, Summoned ll, Rendezvous, Scorecard, Solitude, Poker Night, Sunset, Romantic Lunch, Coffee Break, Wanderer, Falconer-Loch Etive, Back l.

All these are currently available from Studio 18 although things may change as the market in his work is very fluid.  It is best to keep an eye on our website which we update often.

The work of Iain Faulkner looks stunning framed, suitable for any house and because they are so striking, make a talking point in any setting.

Boris O Klein

Boris O’Klein (1893-1985) was born in Moscow in the USSR to French parents. He returned to France at a young age and became an artist and cartoonist.

After the war, where he served in the French Army, Boris moved to Paris where he continued to live until his death. Boris O Klein is best known for his hand coloured etchings of dogs getting up to mischief.

They have become known as the ‘Dirty Dogs of Paris’, ‘Flying dog naughty’, ‘Naughty dog pictures’ or ‘naughty dogs’ because many of the etchings portray lewd acts.

He also painted under a pseudonym, “Jean Herblet” The reason is not known but perhaps under that name he produced more serious work.  All his work seemed to feature dogs however and under the name “Jean Herblet” he produced many hunting scenes.

It appears that most of his work was sold to tourists visiting Paris. It was this that probably led him to start producing prints as he could make multiple copies of the one image and sell it over and over again.

When he produced the series that have become known as the “Dogs of Paris,” it amused and resonated with tourists and became a best seller for him and they have remained popular to this day.  The “Dogs of Paris” series was produced by engraving.

The technique requires the image to be “etched” into a plate of a hard surface by a tool called a burin. (These days usually copper).  Ink is then rubbed all over the plate and the excess removed leaving ink in the etched lines.  Good quality paper is needed which is dampened slightly.  The plate and the paper are then put under a press leaving the image on the paper.  Engraving is quite a time-consuming exercise as each print has to be individually done by hand.  Each print of the “Dogs of Paris” series was then hand coloured.

There are 30 images in the complete set of Boris O Klein “Dirty Dogs of Paris” and we hold in stock the most popular ones.

These are as follows:

• Malentendue (misunderstanding)
• Oh Liberte (Oh Liberty)
• La Profanteur (The Defiler)
• L’Etourdie (Bewildered)
• Sans Interdit (Prohibited)
• Tu Viens Beau Blond (a beautiful blond)
• Eternels Ennemis (always enemies)
• W.C. Prive (private W.C.)
• A La Queue (Join the Queue)
• Reviens Chouquette (come back chouquette)
• Sus au Curieux (extra curious)
• Comme Nos Maitres (as our master)
• Chacun Son Tour (each in turn)
• L’Attente (attention)
• L’Inauguration (the inauguration)
• 7,8,9 out…
• C’est Impossible! (it is impossible!)
• Vous Voulez (you want to)
• Zu tils nous l’ont Grillage! (damn they have a grille)
• Hello, Beau Blond! (Hello beautiful blond)
• Cercle Vicieux (vicious circle)

Upon the death of Boris O Klein in 1985 his Grandson Eric, has taken over the production of these prints from the original plates and hand paints them to authentically match the originals of his Grandfather.

Boris O Klein etchings have remained very popular and can be found in many houses and establishments throughout the world.