DESCRIPTION

This painting often stands out at exhibitions. It is an oil painting on a large vertical canvas, showing dramatic lilac shadows and warm yellow light from the Getty Villa in Malibu, California. The top third of the canvas features an elegant Mediterranean stone pine, its dark canopy stretching wide against the deep blue California sky. Below, the Villa's warm yellow wall -inspired by Roman architecture — is covered with intricate lavender and purple shadows as branches create patterns across the sunlit surface.

Sally shares: 'I felt so inspired by my time at the Getty Villa, which houses a collection of antiquities in a building modeled on a first-century Roman villa. I was drawn to the herb garden, where the sun fell at just the right angle, casting intricate shadows over the yellow walls.' About a year after finishing the painting, and just a month after it was first exhibited in California, severe wildfires swept through Malibu near the Getty Villa. Looking at the painting afterward gave me a deeper appreciation for the fragile beauty it reveals.

Shadows of Herculaneum is one of Herriott's largest paintings and a signature example of her unique style, which she calls 'Lumens.' It measures 75 × 100 cm and is available for pickup only in the Stockholm area.

Exhibited in Lumens, Sally Herriott's solo exhibition in Stockholm in 2025, and at the Grünewaldvillan, Saltsjöbaden, 2026.