The artwork “Theme & Variations Decorative Plate #363 (Bee on Nose)” is a creation by the artist Fornasetti, who is associated with the Surrealism movement. The genre of this art piece is considered to be a portrait. It presents a stylized and whimsical representation that plays with the unexpected, a characteristic trait of the Surrealist movement, to provoke thoughts and evoke amusement.
The artwork features a monochromatic representation of a woman’s face, stylized in a manner that is at once both classical and modern. The facial features are rendered with a significant level of detail, capturing the viewer’s attention and lending an air of elegance to the portrait. Adding a playful and surreal twist to the composition, a bee is depicted as if it has alighted upon the subject’s nose, demanding immediate focus and adding an element of surprise. The bee’s detailed rendering contributes to the perceived realism of this otherwise improbable scenario, which can be interpreted as a juxtaposition of nature with the cultivated beauty of the feminine visage. The circular format of the plate frames the artwork, transforming the functional object into a canvas for artistic expression.
