Ariel, the spirit — Pencil on Paper by Arnaud Quercy
Pencil on Paper, 21.0×30.0cm
Arnaud Quercy, 2021 — France
The sketch that asked the question two sculptures had to answer.
- ✓ Original artwork, hand-drawn by Arnaud Quercy
- ✓ Certificate of authenticity included
Arnaud Quercy is a Parisian artist working across painting, music, and sculpture. His practice is grounded in Ideamorphism — the principle that a work of art does not carry meaning, but triggers it. Each piece is engineered to diffract differently through each person who encounters it.
He creates and exhibits at Art Quam Anima, his gallery-atelier at 28 rue du Dragon, Saint-Germain-des-Prés, Paris.
Series: Shakespeare
Part of Shakespeare series / Spells and Magic collection · 6 works in this series
Shakespear
About This Artwork
This drawing is where the Ariel series began. On April 5, 2021, Arnaud Quercy was working through a question drawn from Shakespeare's The Tempest: what material could hold a being that is essentially without matter? Ariel — an air spirit bound against his nature to Prospero's service — posed a paradox that could not be resolved in language alone. The page was where that paradox was first given form.
The sheet shows three figure studies in pencil on paper, each reaching upward through angular, faceted geometry. None of the figures settles into a resolved shape. The forms are fragmented, broken into planes that suggest movement without completing it. A blocky, low figure occupies the lower left; a tall tapered mass rises at center; a head-like form with marked eye sockets appears at right. Handwritten annotations to the left list the open question in full: Wood? Ceramic? Steel? At the top, the date and subject are written in block letters: IDEA — 05/04/2021 — ARIEL THE SPIRIT — SHAKESPEARE. The artist's monogram and year appear in the lower right corner.
The work is pencil on paper, twenty-one by thirty centimeters, catalogued as AQC0458 within the Spells and Magic collection. It belongs to the Shakespeare series. The drawing was created at the artist's studio, 17 avenue d'Italie, Paris. Certificate of authenticity N°20231231-0045. No signature location is recorded in the data. The drawing is not for sale. This page preceded two subsequent works it directly generated: Ariel — The Spirit (AQC0332, Wood PLA, 2022) and Ariel — The Tempest (AQC0465, ceramic with beeswax, 2023).
The drawing did not produce a resolved design that was then executed. It was the moment before either answer existed — the space where the series question was first put into words and marks on paper.
Details & Provenance
Technical Specifications
- Medium: Pencil on Paper
- Dimensions: 21.0×30.0cm
- Weight:
- Created: 2021, France
- Certificate: 20231231-0045
- SKU: Arnaud Quercy Creations / AQC0458 / 2021
Gallery Label
Ariel, the spirit Pencil on Paper, 21.0×30.0cm Arnaud Quercy Creations / AQC0458 / 2021
Materials & Technique
This drawing is created using artist-grade pencils on acid-free, archival paper. The pencil's graphite core deposits precise tonal gradations through controlled pressure, enabling both delicate line work and rich tonal passages.
Each piece is signed by the artist and includes a certificate of authenticity with unique registration number.
Collection Notice
This work is part of the artist's permanent collection and is not available for acquisition.
