Think of art, think of paintings you like or know & the chances are, somewhere along the line, you’ll think of portraits. The portrait is as ubiquitous as the still life with the added complication of having to create a likeness. Of course, the likeness is not always achieved the obvious way – by making your portrait resemble the sitter’s physical features – but by preserving something of the sitter’s Self: their personality, their essence, their demeanour.
The great portrait artist can usually accomplish both, depending on the purpose of the work. In the past - & today to a lesser extent - the great & good have commissioned portraits as status symbols, showing off their wealth & importance. Nowadays we’re grateful for the likenesses as they bring us closer to the figures & to history. Other times, portraits represented a person who had already died or a couple newly married. Sometimes a portrait is simply a record that “I was here.” Less usually, but no less compellingly, the portrait is a reflection of the artist, saying something of them through the visage of the sitter (a self portrait however is another thing altogether).
Like many other people, I’m a big fan of portraits & for a long time, wasn’t interested in creating other forms of art myself. There’s a satisfaction to achieving a resemblance to another human on paper (the trick is endless measuring) that for me isn’t as gratifying as depicting anything else. But that’s just me. Ask any of today’s artists, they may disagree. After all, art isn’t my living - it just makes living better.
Gerard M Burns (b. 1960), Doddie Weir, OBE b. 1970. Rugby Player, 2019
There are few things sports fans agree on entirely. But in Scotland, they all agree on one thing. Doddie Weir was a legend & Doddie Weir was special. I cannot bear rugby – union or the other one - which he played between 1988 & 2001, including for Scotland. He was diagnosed with MND (motor neuron disease, also known as ALS) in 2017 & participated in clinical trials of drugs that might help those with MND. Doddie campaigned relentlessly to raise money to find a cure, one method including designing a new tartan. The colours of the tartan (black, yellow & blue) were the colours he played in throughout his career & can be seen here in this stunning portrait, which aside from being a great likeness, does capture his incredible heart, determination, courage, presence (at 6’6”) & humour. Sadly, he died a couple of weeks ago by which time he’d raised £8 million for research into MND.
I know absolutely nothing about rugby, but I know Doddie.
Doddie Weir was a legend & Doddie Weir was special.
This short film is a small section of a documentary that was made about the making of the portrait: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LFpMFO5Jduw&t=4s
Here is the link for Doddie’s charity: https://www.myname5doddie.co.uk/
Jan van Eyck (before 1390-1441), Portrait of Giovanni di Nicolao Arnolfini, c. 1438
Even Arnolfini can’t really compete with that. Van Eyck’s portrait is thought to be a good five years older than the more famous Arnolfini Portrait with his wife. At one time this was thought to be a self-portrait, but his features are so similar to those in the Arnolfini Portrait & they are very distinctive…
Charles White (1918-1979), Love Letter III, 1977
White’s portrait is lent a surreal air by the hanging shell suspended above the upturned face & is a lithograph on paper.
Romaine Brooks (1874-1970), Una, Lady Troubridge, 1924
Romaine Brooks has got to be one of the most distinctive artists & simultaneously least celebrated portrait artists I can think of. You can pick out her portraits a mile off, not only stylistically but in terms of palette.
Jules Bastien-Lepage (1848–1884), Juliette Drouet, 1883
At first glance this image of an elderly woman seems ordinary & perhaps even faded. Look closer however & you see all the hallmarks of Bastien-Lepage’s genius: a sensitivity to the painted features, subtle details combined with his Naturalist approach plus a real sense of the personality & aura of the sitter. In other words, a proper portrait.
Beth Rundquist (b. 1962), Bedhead (2017?)
This Impressionistic portrait compels you to look closer. The overall brushwork is unconfined yet accomplished & the flesh tones are subtly fresh. The tiny white highlights in the eye & on the nose may be small, but in my opinion they lift this wonderful portrait from great to spectacular.
Steven Higginson (b. 1982), Louise in Lilac
Steven Higginson’s work never fails to amaze me. Images like this are super-realistic, but when you look more closely, you notice there are more defined, less subtle brushstrokes. This only serves to make the overall effect more remarkable. This year, he’s been painting commissions for his Instagram followers, focusing as ever on dramatic lighting effects such as this.
Gwen John (1876–1939), Chloë Boughton-Leigh, 1904–8
Chloë Boughton-Leigh was a friend of Gwen John’s in Paris & she made a couple of portraits of her. John may not have gone for depth of tone in her paintings, but she made up for it in depth of atmosphere & intensity.
Lucian Freud (1922–2011), Head of a Young Irishman, 1999
This portrait has the classic Freud characteristics of artificial lighting, thickly laid on paint, broad but clever brush strokes, intensity & a strong sense of the character sitting in front of him. I also get the feeling that the model is leaning forward to speak or about to stand up.
Alison Watt (b. 1965), Portrait of Stephen Conroy, 1987
Alison Watt is another artist who goes for ambiance & a quiet energy that matches her preferred colour range. The mood of her portraits goes beyond mere likeness as she places her models in an earthly & recognisable yet dreamlike realm. In a nod to her later works which feature swathes of plain white starched fabrics, we see her ability to convey the crisp texture of that shirt – so much so that I like the shirt as much as the portrait.
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