PAINTING
ROBERT RICOV
(CROATIA / AUSTRALIA)
 
DETAILS
Giclee print on canvas (1/9) Limited edition
92 x 144 cm
2025
 
DESCRIPTION
The last refuge of the cherubim, at one time a secret place amongst the clouds. They fought in flight as they retreated back to their home, back to their mother. She the angel who God commanded to create them. The angel who loves beyond love, whose love knows no bounds. But they returned to find her bound. Bound in chains of gold. Her wings on fire from the attack. With all love now gone from the world, those on the ground could think of nothing more arousing than to attack those in the skies. And so they sent their fighter jets into the heavens. Missiles and bullets. The mother of cherubs holds her eldest son. He has broken her chains out of love but not with it. Violence and anger broke those chains. He lets out a battle cry to rally those that remain, to defend their home, their mother, and to defend love. She can do nothing but hold him. Perhaps for the last time. And thinking of her now, a sweet slumber took me. Behold her heart. This burning heart. I then saw him turn away in tears. And looking on, I died. I died because fate would not let me have her. Behold my heart, oh disgusting soldier. And behold hers.
 
BIOGRAPHY OF THE ARTIST
Robert Ricov b. 1973 Sydney, Australia BA 1994, College of Visual Arts, Sydney Robert Ricov has been living, working, and exhibiting in Croatia since he moved there in 2022. His oil paintings, in a style he refers to as “surreal maximalist realism,” use symbolism to represent themes such as the loss of innocence, betrayal, and hope. In October of 2023, Robert traveled to the island of Menorca, Spain, where he was mentored by Guillermo Lorca and Martin Wittfooth. It wasn’t until a few months after that he realized how profoundly this experience affected the direction of his work. After Robert became finalist in the Toolip Art Contest in Budapest in 2024, he is represented exclusively by the Toolip Art Gallery.
 
BIOGRAPHY OF THE ARTIST
Robert Ricov b. 1973 Sydney, Australia BA 1994, College of Visual Arts, Sydney Robert Ricov has been living, working, and exhibiting in Croatia since he moved there in 2022. His oil paintings, in a style he refers to as “surreal maximalist realism,” use symbolism to represent themes such as the loss of innocence, betrayal, and hope. In October of 2023, Robert traveled to the island of Menorca, Spain, where he was mentored by Guillermo Lorca and Martin Wittfooth. It wasn’t until a few months after that he realized how profoundly this experience affected the direction of his work. After Robert became finalist in the Toolip Art Contest in Budapest in 2024, he is represented exclusively by the Toolip Art Gallery.