Noir Art painting Femme Noir by Theo Michael an oil painting from 2017

Art Noir Prints

Fine Art Prints by Theo Michael

Cinema, shadow and the darker side of romance

Theo grew up watching black and white B movies — the shadows, the rain-soaked streets, the men in fedoras who always knew too much. As a young man he and Anja ran a video rental store, surrounded by thousands of films. Hitchcock, Kubrick, David Lynch. The whole dark, cinematic world of noir was there on the shelves, and Theo watched all of it.

He also grew up reading Marvel comics — Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, Steranko. It was the artwork as much as the stories that gripped him. That was where he learned to draw — studying the way those artists used shadow, angle and composition to tell a story in a single frame. The same instincts are in every painting in this collection.

All of it — the films, the comics, the artists who shaped how he saw — eventually found its way onto the canvas.

As Raymond Chandler wrote: "Without magic, there is no art. Without art, there is no idealism."

Each fine art print on archival paper is individually hand signed by Theo Michael in the studio in Larnaca — a small mark that makes it entirely his, and entirely yours.

Canvas prints are produced and shipped by our print partner to ensure the highest quality reproduction. They are not hand signed.

Not sure which format to choose?

Fine art prints are hand signed by Theo in the studio. Canvas prints arrive ready to hang. Read our full guide to help you decide.

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Art Noir paintings by Theo Michael, Femme Noir

The story behind the print

Femme Noir is a study in contradiction. She is entirely at ease — arm resting on the window, not a care in the world — while the viewer is left to imagine the wreckage she has left behind her. The delicate glove. The overcast trees reflected in the glass. The almost perfect composure of someone who has never once doubted herself. Theo painted every detail deliberately. The painting rewards looking closely.

View Femme Noir

The world that inspires the paintings

Theo put together this short film on the Art Noir genre — the cinema, the fiction, and the visual world that has inspired his work.

Art Noir oil painting, by Theo Michael titled Blowing In The Wind

"This picture had so many questions for us. Who is the lady? Why is she dressed in masculine attire? Where did the cat come from? Then on visiting Theo's studio all became clear. Challenge your own imagination and be prepared for surprises."
Mike Walters, United Kingdom, Blowing In The Wind
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