Olivia Kempt. Linea Nigra
January, 2026

20 pp

155 × 220 mm

Pen, Imagined, Detailed. Olivia Kemp defines her work with these three words. She confesses to having been obsessed with Rembrandt since childhood and, if she could choose, she would like to share a meal with Rubens because ‘he would surely be an excellent conversationalist and the food would be delicious’. The choice of the Flemish painter is no coincidence, as her works seem to share the joy and enjoyment of life conveyed by those of the master from Antwerp. In fact, the series The Senses by Rubens and Jan Brueghel the Elder (Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado, 1617-1618) inspired one of the artist’s most famous works. This inspiration from classical imagery, specifically that related to Madrid and the Prado Museum, originated from a two-month Richard Ford scholarship in 2015, which provided her with a chair, time, and tranquillity to draw from the Prado’s marvellous collections.

Cathalogue texts: María Cruz de Carlos Varona and Alejandro Martínez