Portrait Recreations
Many families in this country and abroad have found it necessary over the
years to sell portraits by well-known artists. By using illustrations of these,
usually obtainable from auction-house records or the catalogues of the galleries
which bought the paintings, I am able to re-create the portrait in whatever
size is required.
My aim is always to produce a faithful copy which will not
look out of place when hanging alongside genuine paintings of the same era
as the original.
Such re-creations are sometimes also required by the junior branches of families
with collections of portraits; in these cases it is frequently necessary
to arrange for a photograph of the original painting to be taken in situ.
Click thumbnail for larger version
The main problem with this fine Romney portrait was its size --- the 6 foot 3 in. canvas barely fitted into my studio.
Copied from the original painting by de Laszlo (1924). Not an easy commission --- a lot of fine detail and intricate brushwork.
Copy of an 1870 portrait of a Grenadier Major-General. by G. Pope. The V.C. which he won in the Crimea is just visible. The original painting was very dark, so I have slightly lightened the copy.
This was copied from a Raeburn portrait which had been sold by the family in 1910.
The original portrait by Winterhalter was commissioned by Queen Victoria, and now hangs in the Queen's Gallery.
A 1928 portrait painted by an Eastern European artist. Difficult to achieve the subtle nuances of the face, not to mention the white feather boa!
I was commissioned to copy this by a descendant of the original subject. A photograph had to be taken of the original painting, by Emanuel Crawitz, which hangs in the Merchant Taylor's Hall.
The precise location of the original picture by Guiseppe Molteni is not known, but a direct descendant discovered an engraving of it on the internet. Decisions regarding the colour of the hair, coat etc. were made as a result of discussion with the client.
The original painting by H.G.Riviere was life-size, on an eleven foot canvas; it was therefore unsurprising that when it was sold in 1959 it was bought by a gallery rather than a member of the family. My copy was a mere thirty inches in height.
Joseph Highmore painted the original of this; it now hangs in the National Museum of Wales. The head of the family owns a similar one which is painted in reverse.
