Portrait painting makes its bow at the Royal Society of Portrait Painters’ annual exhibition which opens in London at the Mall Galleries today (4-13 May). The 132nd annual exhibition will feature around 230 portraits, many for sale, curated by artists who are members of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters. Celebrity images abound on the show with photos of newsreader Clive Myrie, musician William Ellis and a dark image of actor Richard E. Grant by Wendy Barratt titled Grief. The biggest draw from the portrait exhibition will undoubtedly be a photo of national treasure David Attenborough commissioned by the BBC. This spirited likeness of the revered broadcaster and naturalist is courtesy of artist David Cobley who narrated Bristol live“Just as artists try to show things from a different perspective, Sir David showed us life from the perspective of a plant, the miniature eye of an ant, a polar bear on a drifting ice floe.” Meanwhile, for those who think portraiture is a dying art, Anthony Connolly, the president of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters, has a heated retort, saying in a statement: “Portrait painting is alive and It’s skateboarding, surfing and untethered It’s never been so energetic.
