Octavia Sterne · No. 317
The Great Bear
The Great Bear is Octavia Sterne at her most evocative. The constellation Ursa Major sprawls across the chart as a golden bear, the seven bright stars of the Big Dipper picked out in gilded points along its form, the surrounding sky a deep indigo scattered with fainter constellations and ringed by a delicate engraved border. Sterne draws on the centuries-old convention of overlaying mythological figures onto the stars, her fine gold line-work giving the bear a heraldic grace. The contrast of luminous gold and midnight blue is quietly sumptuous. Elegant, scholarly and decorative, it captures the romance of the old celestial atlases — the sky read as both science and story.
An original oil painting on canvas by Octavia Sterne, painted to order — never a reproduction. Antique astronomical charts — constellations, zodiac and celestial bodies in fine gold line-work on midnight blue, with compass roses and engraved borders.
Available sizes
- 50 × 60 cm
- 60 × 80 cm
- 80 × 100 cm
- 100 × 130 cm
- 120 × 160 cm
Or a custom size on request. Each canvas is painted to order.
- Artist
- Octavia Sterne
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Finish
- Unframed, ready to hang or frame
- Made
- To order, by hand
