New portrait of the Queen unveiled by youngest artist to paint Royals for 400 years

Blackleaf

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Oct 9, 2004
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For centuries, portraits of monarchs usually capture the subject in regal prose, amidst an explosion of colour.

But the newest portrait of Queen Elizabath II is a more subdued affair, with an absense of jewellery or make-up.

The portrait is the masterpiece of Rupert Alexander.

Rupert became the youngest artist to paint a member of the British Royal Family since the 17th century when he painted the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Edinburgh at the age of 23.

On meeting the Queen, Rupert said: 'She was very humorous which I hadn’t expected. She talked about her corgis and things in the news.'

New portrait of the Queen unveiled by youngest artist to paint Royals for 400 years

By Paul Sims
27th April 2010
Daily Mail

Wearing little make-up and none of her royal finery, this is the Queen at 84.

The stark portrait, with its subdued colours, is a dramatic change from many official paintings that have captured the monarch in more regal pose.

It was painted by Rupert Alexander, 35, who has also painted the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Edinburgh.


Stark: Rupert Alexander's new portrait of HM The Queen at 84 wearing little make-up or jewellery


Family affair: Rupert Alexander also painted these portraits of the Prince of Wales (left) and the Duke of Edinburgh in 1998

The artist said of his work that he wanted to focus on 'the more human and intimate aspects of her character'.

The work is due to be unveiled shortly at the Royal Warrant Holders Association in London.


Honour: Rupert Alexander was granted three sittings with the Queen

However, even for the most accomplished of artists, painting the Queen comes with its challenges - and Alexander discovered the greatest hurdle of them all was the royal diary.

What was supposed to have taken three sittings over just four months ended up becoming a labour of love spread over 18 months.

Yesterday, at the end of a marathon journey, he finally unveiled his finished work.

A spokesman for the artist said: 'There were three sittings scheduled with the Queen. Each one was meant to be within a couple of months of each other. But because Her Majesty's diary was so full there was a year's gap between the second and final sitting. As a result it took Rupert about 18 months to finish the painting. You could say it was a labour of love.'

Among the topics the Queen talked about during the sitting was Alexander's great-uncle, Alan Campbell-Johnson, who was press attache to Earl Mountbatten when he was the last Viceroy of India (Mountbatten was the uncle of the Duke of Edinburgh, the Queen's husband. He was assassinated by the IRA in 1979).

Alexander, who was invited to Buckingham Palace for the sittings, said: 'I painted oil sketches to record the tone and colour and to experiment with various gestures to find what best expressed those elements of her character I was trying to capture.'

'Meeting her was absolutely wonderful.'

'She was very humorous which I hadn’t expected. She talked about her corgis and things in the news. When we weren’t talking she had an amazing calmness and
stillness about her.'

He became the youngest artist to paint a member of the British Royal Family since the 17th century when he painted the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Edinburgh at the age of 23.

He studied painting at the Florence Academy of Art and Charles Cecil Studios, having been awarded a Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust scholarship in 1996.


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AnnaG

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Jul 5, 2009
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Gotta love those royal "we-are-above-your-sort" expressions. lol
 

Liberalman

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Mar 18, 2007
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In the old days the young artist would be swinging at the end of a rope for painting that picture.

How times have changed