Peonies

One big white peony fully open, a second one behind it, round green buds touched with red, all against a near-black background.

Sharshenbiev fills the square canvas almost edge to edge with flowers. The dark ground, a trick borrowed from the Dutch flower painters, makes the whites luminous, and the petals have warm golden shadows at their centers. The buds tell you the bouquet is still opening.

• Artist: Eldiyar Sharshenbiev
• Medium: Oil on canvas
• Size: 70 × 70 cm (27.6 × 27.6 in), height × width
• Year: 2021
• Original: one of a kind, signed by the artist