Julien Spianti is a French painter and filmmaker who merges classical figure painting with impressionistic landscapes. His work often appears to be mid-transformation, with some portions fragmented and others well-rendered. He cites dreams as an inspiration for the lack of clarity in his work. 

Embarquement, 2013

Spianti is interested in portraying the blending of myth and reality as it has been throughout human history. I enjoy that there is a romantic quality to his impressionist style and well-rendered nudes that is at odds with more modern techniques such as his fragmented compositions, unsmoothed brushstrokes, and washed-out lighting you might expect from a non-idealized studio setting. 

Open Source, 2014

His method of painting thinly, incompletely covering his canvases, is one of my favorite aspects of his work; I feel that the artist studies what he wants to from his subjects until he feels his point has been made. The paintings feel skilled and academic but not overworked due to perfectionist objectives.

LOVE IN SETTLEMENT, 2011