Paul Emsley with his portrait of Michael
Simpson.
Oil on board. Lent by the Redfern Gallery
July 2008
Paul Emsley, who lives in Bradford-on-Avon near Bath, won the
prestigious 2007 BP Portrait Award with this picture. A portrait of
his friend, Michael Simpson, it is being shown here locally for the
first time before entering a private collection abroad. In this
setting, the picture can be compared with the Gallery’s historic
portraits. Artists who have influenced Emsley include Hans Holbein,
Diego Velazquez, Thomas Lawrence, Edgar Degas, Glyn Philpot and
Lucien Freud.
In the artist’s own words:
“I couldn’t ask Michael Simpson to sit for me for weeks on end,
he’s a very busy artist in his own right. So I worked only from my
photographs – for a portrait I generally take 50-60 which I scan
into my computer. Then I can focus on the detail to ensure the
level of accuracy and intensity that I wish to investigate. I use
all of the photos I take. Degas used them, why can’t we? It’s just
another tool, bringing a 20th century element to a traditional
craft.
“I have always been intrigued by the way that portraiture often
reveals as much about the personality of the painter as the sitter.
It’s a conversation on canvas. But in a way, Michael Simpson
‘painted’ the portrait himself. He’s already there, I didn’t need
to delve for him.
“Michael Simpson’s face to me represents early black and white
photographs, the Eastern European ones, which fascinate me.
Together with his personal, refined elegance, he reminds me of
Russian writers and composers. As a personality, my version of
Michael Simpson looks formidable, ferociously intelligent! I like
the fact that the face is emerging from the darkness; there is a
feeling of time fleeting, of something uncapturable that is always
slipping away.”