Dominique Appia - Swiss Surrealist Painter

In my quest in solving the mystery about this surreal painting that we saw at Willowood Camp, I found out that the artist is Dominique Appia, a Swiss surrealist painter. I had taken a close-up photo of the fine-print on the edge of this painting and when I looked it up close after getting home, I was amazed to see the one above among other paintings by him on Google. His art is mind-boggling and fascinating.

In a rather very uncanny aspect, here's one intriguing depiction in the phenomenal painting above in which the artist leaves it to the viewer to figure out. Notice the painting of the 'Leaning Tower of Pisa' within the painting? Well, it seems the artist himself is not happy with the painting showing the famous tower at a tilted angle. So, he tilts the painting instead, in a rather witty way keeping the 'Leaning Tower of Pisa' upright!

Apparently, the image above is one of his best-known works entitled "Entre les trous de la memoire",  in English "Between the Holes in the Memory" by this intriguing and little-known artist. Dominique Appia's paintings are based mainly on the elements: air, water, fire and earth as one can see in the painting above. Some Indian artists do the same I believe. The Indian Zodiac signs are an example - a set of 4 (air, water, fire, earth x 3 = 12 months.  

Dominique Appia (29 July 1926 – 8 January 2017) was a Swiss painter based in Geneva. His paintings depict imaginative scenarios of cities, landscapes and interiors where familiar elements are juxtaposed as in a dream: a cathedral becomes a railway station, the Mediterranean gushes up from the Paris Metro, and a room with disappearing children is invaded by different world environments. "Entre les trous de la memoire", in English "Between the Holes in the Memory", is the best known image by this intriguing and little-known artist.

His dreamlike paintings are often mistaken for the work of Salvador Dalí.

- Wikipedia