what would Freud say?

 "which Freud?" you say.

"the late Lucian, of course," I say.

 Lucian Freud's Bella, 1996

How extraordinary would it have been if Lucian Freud could have painted the Duchess of Cambridge-his last great work?

Some of his work is atmospherically beautiful.

Freud's Bella and Esther, 2002

He had a go at the Queen in 2001.

Freud's portrait of the Queen. 9" x 6"

The Duchess views Freud's paintings. 

"Can't you just imagine transporting the Duchess into this family portrait?" I say.

 "for that matter what would Madame Tussaud say?"

"More Wax!" Madame Tussaud

 upon viewing a Freud portrait of his wife The Duke of Devonshire said:

on looker "Who is that?"

Andrew Devonshire "It's my wife." 

on looker "Well, thank God it's not mine."

(above, the Duchess of Devonshire by Lucien Freud)

"This is a double portrait of the Windsor men," I say.

"& jolly good," You say.

Prince William, Duke of Cambridge & Prince Harry by Nicola Jane ('Nicky') Philipps

  © National Portrait Gallery, London

"She's a lovely woman-animated, athletic.    

Just like the guys, Right?

They look like they might just soul shake next?"

I say old chap-"why didn't the Duchess get a vibrant portrait of the woman that comes through in her countless-countless photographs?"

 (No I haven't met her or even seen her in her royal personess-but still.)

 "Yes-I see that her mouth is open a bit in this one-

but look so is the Duke's-the Prince I mean in the Harry and Wills portrait."

"say what?"

Yes-most definitely it is-

"why not in a hat?" I say hats definitely become her.

Or in a Sargent frame of mind?

"Perfect."

Think  Edith Minturn Stokes in Sargent's Stokes painting.

"Never more lovely- her hair-windswept

why not something romantic?" I say.

 Think Pre-Raphaelite.

Windswept by John Waterhouse, 1904

"Never prettier with flowers in her hair"-I say-

No self respecting Pre-Raphaelite would disagree.

In the hands, say of Dante Gabriel Rossetti?

Paul  Emsley says ‘The Duchess explained that she would like to be portrayed naturally - her natural self - as opposed to her official self. She struck me as enormously open and generous and a very warm person. After initially feeling it was going to be an unsmiling portrait I think it was the right choice in the end to have her smiling - that is really who she is.’ from the NPG  (linked in text)

HRH The Duchess of Cambridge

portrait by Paul Emsley
National Portrait Gallery, London; A National Portrait Gallery commission given by Sir Hugh Leggatt in memory of Sir Denis Mahon through the Art Fund. 
 Leggatt is a great patron of the Gallery.

"I think any artist would agree that with an older face, with lines or wrinkles, or strong distinguishing features, it's easier to create a likeness. But with a genuinely beautiful face, it's harder to convey character," Elmsley  says.

She says, "Brilliant."

He says-he altered the color of her eyes to be more harmonious with the blouse and background.

      In a style called photorealism, I say what?

Stephen Deuchar, director of the Art Fund charity, says-"There is a tradition of portraits of princesses, which he was very much aware of, and he (Leggatt) wanted to commission this image of her before the full weight of responsibilities of state and motherhood descended on her – and as it turned out, just in time."

To see it in the flesh-I say is the only way to truly judge, however from the countless images circulating-

it would appear from the portrait time ran out-

"but No I can't believe that," I say.

No small Freud, the Elmsley, is a clossal 45" x 38"

Emsley stands by the portrait of the Duchess

The Duchess of Cambridge has many portraits in her future-perhaps none will capture her-certainly Elmsley-as the first-
will be a constant reminder to those who come after-the best is yet to come.

One Hopes.

Something that captures the youth and vibrancy of them both-


"In the monumental style of the Stokes portrait," I say.

 “She carried within herself a great fund of life, and her deepest enjoyment was to feel the continuity between the movement of her own heart and the agitations of the world. For this reason, she was fond of seeing great crowds, and large stretches of country, of reading about revolutions and wars, of looking at historical pictures--a class of efforts to which she had often gone so far as to forgive much bad painting for the sake of the subject,” Henry James said.

 

Sometimes words paint the picture best-and Time changes nothing-that is of importance, I say.

a first hand account of  viewing the portrait at The Anglophile here