portraits – Paper Places

Above is Celia and Shay, a very tender photograph taken by Megan Taylor which I found enchanting.

There was a great emphasis on images of much-loved elderly relatives in this year’s collection. These two caught my eye. On the left is Ageing Gracefully by Madeleine Waller of her mother at home in Australia. On the right is Inderjit Kaur by Jasmeen Patheja of her grandmother.

Here’s another trio of images of parents or images which capture older models. On the left is Mom, I’ll follow you still by Jesse Navarre Vos and shows his grandmother standing in the lift of the care home where she moved after they stopped living together. Vos wanted to capture the sense of separation and knowledge that he could no longer be with her into her new surroundings. In the centre is My Father’s Reflection by Diana Markosian and on the right is a portrait of Chicko, a clothes seller in London taken by Toks Majek using a 60 year old lens.

This photograph looked very spontaneous. Entitled Kitchen Embrace it shows the photographer’s daughter tenderly touching her grandmother’s cheek. The dog peeps up at the young girl and the two aubergines the woman is holding take centre stage.

And this, above, is the image which won first prize. It’s a very beguiling photograph taken by Steph Wilson of Sonam with her newborn baby. Sonam is a wigmaker and she is wearing a replica of her father’s moustache.

It’s a very interesting show this year and is situated on the upper floor of the gallery so you have the fun of walking through faces of the past to see these, the gallery’s most contemporary images. The Taylor Wessing Photo Portrait exhibition is on until 16th February 2025.

In this fabulous self-portrait, Angelica Kauffman represents herself ‘At the Crossroads between the Arts of Music and Painting’. She was a talented singer and musician and torn between the two art forms. But, thank goodness, she decided to dedicate her life to painting. For forty years of her working career (born 1741 and died November 1807) she produced hundreds of remarkable paintings. She was especially enjoyed creating historical, narrative paintings but putting the female character or heroine at the centre of the action. In fact, she was a consummate feminist and celebrated the achievements of women in her work.

Painted by Richard Samuel, here is Angelica, seated in front of the easel, in the company of illustrious women of the day who are all depicted as ‘Characters of the Muses in the Temple of Apollo’. A group portrait of some of the best-known, intellectual and creative women of late 18th century Britain. She is the only artist in the group.

She made several exquisite self-portraits. All of them show her direct, intelligent gaze and are painted with such poise and incorporate classical references in the pose.

According to the curator of the show, Bettina Bamgärtel who spoke at the press preview I attended, Kauffman regarded commissioned portraits as a necessary money-making aspect of her practice, and not her main focus. However, she was extremely good at them. I liked these two portraits. On the left is Joshua Reynolds, who became a close friend. Reynolds introduced her to his royal patron, Queen Charlotte and gave her an entree into London society. On the right is the actor David Garrick. He pose is very unstuffy and shows how very comfortable he felt engaging her gaze and, one imagines, having lively conversations while the painting was being made.

This beautiful portrait of is Emma Hamilton as Muse of Comedy. Emma (who was famously the lover of Lord Nelson) was well known for her ‘attitudes’ – recreating the poses of classical figures as an entertainment. She was invited to country houses and palaces on the promise that she would perform these stylised dances in diaphanous drapes.

This is a portrait of the first Royal Academicians painted by Johan Zoffany gathered in the life drawing room of new Academy. This was not deemed a suitable environment for women so Angelica Kauffman and and Mary Moser, the two female Academicians, are represented in portraits on wall. Kauffman is on the left, looking directly out of her portrait at us.

It’s a wonderful exhibition which is well worth a visit. It opens on 1st March and is on until 30th June 2024.

Tag: portraits

Love for the elderly, sensitive family situations and tender images of relationships dominate this year’s selection of Taylor Wessing photo portraits on show at the National Portrait, and I approve the choice of prize winners for 2024.