Le jour des roses sur le toit

2001-2003

Oil on canvas

316 x 602 x 5 cm (124 7/16 x 237 x 1 15/16 in.)

A large group of people sitting around a table share a lavish meal as hundreds of colourful figures merrily dance, drink, eat and laugh in a rural setting. However, darker, more ambiguous scenes on the right of the painting suggest that not everybody is having a good time.

The oil on canvas Le Jour des roses sur le toit (The Day of Roses on the Roof) is from a series of large-format paintings Martial Raysse between 1990 and 2000. He depicted the mysteries of the Middle Ages, lavish bacchanals, folksy farces and macabre dances with historical and ethnographic iconographic references.

The Day of Roses on the Roof is a skilful allegory combining the portrait, landscape and historical painting genres. It was presented for the first time by the Pinault Collection at the major retrospective exhibition devoted to the artist at the Palazzo Grassi (2015).
Exhibitions