Rosy Lamb

Portraits at home

Matisse said "A portrait is a quarrel." A few years ago when I made my first painting of a family group I realized both the truth of this statement and also that being able to withstand the quarrel is necessary to the making of a portrait from one's own perspective. It is the quarrel which allows us each a corner of subjectivity from which to claim some parcel of individual and artistic freedom. In these paintings, I too am a subject, both of the opinions that surround my unfinished work, and to the great gift that each individual gives me by posing for me.

Two of my paintings of people at home are currently on display. The portrait of George and Sylvia Whitman painted in Paris last winter was accepted into the BP portrait award show in London this summer. The show has now closed at the National Portrait Gallery and is currently moving to the Usher Gallery, Lincoln where it will be on display from Saturday, 2 October to Sunday, 14 November, 2010. It will then move on to Aberdeen Art Gallery from Saturday, 27 November to 22 January, 2011, and then finally to Aberystwth Art Gallery. The painting Westley Farm is also on display until December 19, 2010 at the Bennington Center for the Arts Laumeister Fine Art Competition in Bennington VT, USA.

If you would like me to paint your portrait please contact me via the inquiries page.