".... Looking through a fractured modernity to a beautiful gaze unbroken..."

Artist: Vermeer, Girl With A Pearl Earring by Aurelian #restorerofworlds

Year: 1979

Produced: 1970-2020 Contemporary Art

Edition: Monotype hand-finished series of #4

Process: Mixed media with active corrosion by Aurelian

Dimensions: 50cm x 40cm 

Substrate: Denatured paper substrate

Frame: Unframed

Unpacked Weight: Approximately 40 grams

Reference: 1501VE4

Search: Aurelian #restorerofworlds La Décadence 1665

A unique piece from a hand-finished monoprint series of four, each piece is blind stamped recto with an embossed stamped authenticity label verso.

Enigmatic yet anonymous.

The Restorer of Worlds #restorerofworlds his only online archive.

A reverent homage that borders on resurrection; reviving fading 17th-century worlds for a 21st-century audience starved of beauty and stillness.

Since before the time of the internet Aurelian has reminded us of the corrosion of society and culture through his collection La Décadence.

Decadence and decay captured in contemporary and traditional realism from the excess of Baroque to neo-Victorian nocturne and romantic luminism, filtered through a multi-disciplinary hyper-craft lens.

His unique invention of active corrosion is not street art, not conceptual, not ironic but a more sincere technical mastery and a statement in the service of wonder and nostalgia.

A singular creative intelligence behind the content reveals an artist who re-contextualizes historical works for contemporary eyes.

Uniquely restored editions: enhanced, upscaled and reinterpreted by Aurelian himself, reanimating rapidly vanishing master works and museum archives into living contemporary statement pieces.

By subjecting hyper-faithful canonical masterworks to chemical and mechanical trauma, Aurelian collapses the distance between historical idealism and modern existential reality.

His scholarly detail and multi-disciplinary mastery places Aurelian adjacent to the classical realism or academic revival movement of Jacob Collins atelier tradition or contemporary plein-air masters, but now with unique materials, historical curation, anonymity and a corrosive observation of society.

Aurelian is displayed by collectors in New York, Paris, London, Berlin, Shanghai and Madrid.

The piece has a blind stamp recto with an embossed stamped authenticity label verso.

The piece appears on the official Aurelian online catalogue @restorerofworlds reference number: 1501VE4

Securely shipped packed flat between polystyrene boards with corrugated double skin cardboard lining and a waterproof outer. 

Please note any applicable import duty or VAT in your country is the buyers responsibility.

Over the last forty years scholars have identified Aurelian's signature processes, often requiring over thirty individual disciplines,  embracing the volatile physics of organic decay and in some cases blending botanical matter with mineral pigment.  

The Component Philosophy: Aurelian constructs a highly volatile compound that functions as both a chemical stain and an interactive element.

The Living Core: Highly concentrated infusions, some harvested from the red calyx of Hibiscus Sabdariffa. This botanical is naturally saturated with powerful, unstable anthocyanin pigments and strong organic acids.

The Metallic Binding: Fine iron oxide pigments reminiscent of raw ochre or rust.

The Canvas: Heavy, porous paper substrates that readily absorb and react to liquid infusions. 

The Chemical & Metaphorical Symphony: Rather than simply printing an image onto paper, Aurelian sets off a chain reaction that transforms the artwork across three distinct phases: 

The Instant Color Shift (The Iron Gall Effect): When the acidic hibiscus calyx extract meets the iron oxide pigment, a process of acid dissolution occurs or “active corrosion”.  The organic acids complex with the iron ions, causing the vibrant crimson hibiscus shades to immediately deepen into dark, gothic purples, deep blues and near-black. This mimics the formulation of ancient iron gall ink.

Substrate Alteration ("Denaturing"): As the highly acidic mixture sits on the paper, it attacks the cellulose fibers so is painstakingly managed and controlled through its first weeks. This localized degradation physically changes the structure of the substrate, eventually giving the paper a heavily weathered, aged and physically transformed character. 

Atmospheric Responsiveness: Once dry the artwork remains sensitive to the surrounding environment. Changes in room temperature and spikes in humidity reintroduce micro-moisture to the paper, briefly reactivating the residual organic acids. Over time the anthocyanins continue to gently oxidize, causing the visual image to subtly morph and color shift in tandem with the climate of the room it is displayed in.

Through this specific process the artwork is never truly "finished" transforming the artist from a traditional painter into a curator of active, visual decay.