Artwork Description

Title: Le prix de la tendresse (The Price of Tenderness)
Artist: Christian Silvain
Date: n.d.
Medium: Mixed media on canvas
Dimensions: 39.4 x 39.4 in (100 x 100 cm)

1. Artwork Identification
This richly detailed mixed media painting by Christian Silvain, Title:d Le prix de la tendresse (The Price of Tenderness), is a vibrant tableau filled with symbolism and storytelling. Against a deep cobalt blue background, Silvain arranges an assortment of surreal, almost dreamlike images: a prison-striped head, a green beetle, a revolver aimed at a butterfly, spirals, stars, and fragmented limbs. Rendered in a childlike, raw style with flat color fields and strong outlines, the painting balances whimsy with menace. The piece is signed by the artist in the lower left corner and presented on a stretched canvas in a wooden frame.

2. Artistic Style and Influences
Silvain’s unique language fuses elements of Art Brut, Surrealism, and Pop Art. His work is immediately recognizable by its use of iconography drawn from toys, cartoons, prisons, and psychological archetypes. Influenced by Paul Delvaux and outsider artists, Silvain’s compositions are densely packed with personal symbols that navigate the boundary between innocence and trauma.

3. Historical Context
This piece emerges from Silvain’s mature period, when his works became increasingly autobiographical and expressive. The tension between playfulness and violence reflects his ongoing preoccupation with memory, childhood abandonment, and emotional vulnerability. Created during a time when the artist was deeply engaged with institutions for children with special needs, the painting reflects both societal critique and intimate catharsis.

4. Provenance
Documentation of authenticity and prior ownership can be provided upon request.

5. Condition and Conservation
Very good condition. The canvas is stable and shows no signs of wear or damage. All media remain vivid and secure. The frame is clean and structurally sound.

6. Artistic Significance
Le prix de la tendresse exemplifies Silvain’s ability to weave layered emotional narratives through deceptively simple forms. The painting’s combination of childhood motifs with graphic symbolism—a butterfly pierced by a gun, a blood-red cross, a fallen head—poses questions about vulnerability, control, and survival. As both a visual poem and psychological map, it is a poignant and compelling example of Silvain’s singular vision.