Contemporary British figurative painter

Most of the works depicted on this site have been exhibited at various exhibitions and galleries including The Royal Academy of Arts, Beaux Arts (London and Bath), The National Portrait Gallery, and at Waterhouse and Dodd (London), and have been acquired by private or public collections including:

  • The National Portrait Gallery, London
  • The Holburne Museum of Art, Bath
  • The House of Lords Collection of the UK Parliament
  • The former Scheringa Museum, Netherlands

Awards include:

  • The National Portrait Gallery Portrait Prize
  • The Holburne Contemporary Portrait Prize
  • The Royal Society of Portrait Painters Changing Faces Award

Michael is a member of Royal Society of Portrait Painters.

Michael is represented by Portland Gallery, London.
Enquiries to: jasmine@portlandgallery.com

Commissioned to paint Boy with Apple for The Grand Budapest Hotel

Film director Wes Anderson approached me in 2012 to paint a fictional Renaissance portrait to be titled ‘Boy with Apple’ for his next film, The Grand Budapest Hotel.

The plot pivots around the theft and recovery of a priceless portrait by Renaissance master Johannes Van Hoytl. Intrigued by the script and surprised to hear that he intended to commission a real portrait, I decided to come onboard.

For inspiration Wes bombarded me with a bewildering selection of images by Bronzino, 17th Century Dutch painters, Durers, all kinds of stuff, even some Tudor portraits. I found this terribly confusing at first until I realized that each image contained some required element that had to be worked into the painting. He clearly knew exactly what he wanted; it was just that nothing quite like it yet existed. It was an irresistible challenge.

Film poster for "The Grand Budapest Hotel" featuring building with imposing frontage
The artist painting the picture "Boy with Apple" for the movie "The Grand Budepest Hotel"

Ed Munro, a stage school student, was cast as the sitter. Costumes were chosen and props hired (I provided the apple) and we started what was to be many weeks of work in Hanford School, a wonderfully atmospheric Jacobean manor house near my home in Dorset.

Wes had very bravely left me alone to work on the painting for a couple of months, but as the start of filming approached we began the final work on it together. Collaborating on a picture was new territory to me, but his extraordinary attention to detail (“ the little bit of paper on the wall?…..yes, yes we must have the little bit of paper!”), good humoured patience and faith in his script somehow made it all come out right.

The frame also needed to be attended to carefuly, so after discussing various style options with Wes, I took the picture to my framer Philip Elletson in Pewsey, and asked him to make a gessoed, gilded, and hand-painted antique frame. He did a truly wonderful job—using woodworm-riddled wood and antique brass rings.

Framed oil painting of a young male in renaissance style

I thoroughly enjoyed the finished film. It is funny, strange, rather dark, and it goes like a train from start to finish. I can heartily recommend it!

The Grand Budapest Hotel opened the Berlin Film Festival to very good reviews, and won the Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize. It will go on general release from 7th March [2014].

Still from the film Grand Budapest Hotel.  Ralph Fiennes and painting by the artist.

We found a wonderful English portrait painter named Michael Taylor who started from scratch and drew on all his powers.

Wes Anderson (Director of The Grand Budapest Hotel)
Reported by Meghan Dailey in Sotheby’s Blog.

Images reproduced courtesy of Fox Searchlight Pictures.

That was a jumping off point for Wes. I remember it was one of the first things he needed done, and he found an amazing artist and he basically commissioned this. It’s exquisite in person, and Wes would keep it in his wonderful apartment. It was an inspiration to him I think.

Robin L. Miller (Prop Master on The Grand Budapest Hotel) referring to ‘Boy with Apple’
Reported by Ashley Hoffman in PAPER magazine

Gallery Representation

I am pleased to announce that I am now represented by Portland Gallery, London and will be showing new works with them in June next year.

This is a happy development for me having worked with Jamie Anderson for sixteen years at Waterhouse and Dodd before he moved to be director of Portland, so he is already aware of all my quirks and foibles. I now look forward to working with the team at the Gallery which is nicely situated just off Piccadilly at 3 Bennett Street, London SW1A 1RP.

Portland Gallery are leading dealers in Modern and Contemporary British art. Their two-floor gallery in St James’s hosts up to fourteen exhibitions a year; largely solo presentations of work by their represented artists and estates. Throughout the history of the gallery, their exhibition programme has concentrated primarily in representing the best modern and contemporary figurative artists working in traditional media. In parallel, Portland are dealers in abstract paintings and sculptures by some of the most prominent figures of 20th century British Art.

Portland Gallery premises London SW1

New Still Lifes

I have recently been concentrating on producing quietly observed and poetical still life compositions.

On the right, a detail from a little bit of work-in-progress.

Detail from work-in-progress oil painting of red pot

2023 Royal Society of Portrait Painters Annual Exhibition

I shall be exhibiting Caroline with Pine Cone for the first time at this year’s Royal Society of Portrait Painters annual exhibition at Mall Galleries, London. Being a lockdown project, it represents one of the few times I have painted Caroline as herself, which explains it’s particular intimacy.

Paintings hanging in the north gallery during RP Exhibition 2023

This year’s show will be opened at the private view by Andrew Graham-Dixon and runs from May 4th-14th.

Along with the usual members portraits there were over 3500 entries from all over the world to the open selection this year, so making the final selection from them was a particularly challenging task, but has resulted I in a very dynamic and interesting exhibition. Do go along and see for yourself. As usual our lovely commissions consultant Annabel Elton will be on hand to help potential clients through the exciting but sometimes daunting business of commissioning a portrait.

Oil painting of crockery on a table and a seated lady

June 21st is Stereoscopy Day!

June 21st is Stereoscopy day!…yes, #stereoscopyday and from now on will be every year; it is worldwide and I’m a supporter, so listen up or visit the website. The painting here represents the autopsy of my much loved but now ex-stereoscopic camera (A 35mm Edixa). I often use stereo transparencies as a studio aid, so my contribution here is to share an article I have written on the techniques and benefits of the practice. You can read the article via this link.

If you take two photographs, one from the viewpoint of each eye and then overlap them until they fuse into one, you create a fully three dimensional single image, which I have found to be an invaluable help, particularly when it comes to portraits. Not only is the form conveyed clearly, but texture and transparency too, with none of the spatial ambiguities inherent in ordinary photos: Form, shadow detail, highlights & reflections are all clearly rendered in space. Once mastered, the sheer visual physicality and joy of depth perception is sharpened, and from then on you become intensely aware of it.

Using transparencies gives a very high definition, immersive result. Although I prefer to work as much from life as possible, sitters can be busy people, and this really takes the pressure off….never a starting point though, only an aid.

Stereoscopy Day will be held every year on June 21st, the day in 1838 when Sir Charles Wheatstone presented his stereoscope to the Royal Society and demonstrated his theory of binocular vision. Stereo enthusiast Dr Brian May, who’s other hobbiess include astrophysics and playing the guitar, is responsible for re-launching the venerable Victorian London Stereoscopic Company, and along with photo historian Denis Pellerin has published many fine books on the art and practice of stereoscopy. For more info and events visit the London Stereoscopic Company website.

Still life oil painting including a defunct stereoscopic Edixa camera
Wide-eyed stereo pair photographs of the artist in front of his portarait of Amanda Baker Wilbraham

Royal Society of Portrait Painters annual exhibition 2022

I will be showing my new portrait of Rodney Williams at this year’s Royal Society of Portrait Painters annual exhibition at the Mall Galleries, London.

The commission came just at the tail end of the second lockdown, so I naturally welcomed the chance to engage with the outside world again, and paint someone other than myself or Caroline!

Rodney Williams sits for the artist to paint his portrait. The artist is using a mahl stick.

Commissioned by his wife Diana for Rodney’s 75th birthday, the whole process was made very enjoyable by their generous hospitality and good company. As a bonus, they gave every impression of approving of the result. The exhibition opens on 5th May and runs until 14th May, 11am-5pm daily.

Rodney Williams views his portrait
Portrait in oils of a man with a glass of wine

Attic Stories: Exhibition at The Art Stable, 2022

I will be having an exhibition of ten selected works at Kelly Ross’s Child Okeford gallery The Art Stable in the lovely Dorset village of Child Okeford.

Having lived and worked in Child Okeford for over 30 years, I am particularly delighted to be having this exhibition at The Art Stable, having known Kelly since she opened the gallery in 2006.

Coinciding as it does with my 70th birthday, and being situated in the heart of this lovely area, The Art Stable is an especially appropriate venue for this, my first gallery show outside central London for over 30 years.

All but one of the works in the show were created in my attic studio just a few hundred yards away, and it features in most of them, along with the objects and people familiar to me. I became so accustomed to this very special space, with its warped elm floor and quirky beamed walls that it developed into a kind of visual shorthand for me: a language I could manipulate instinctively and expressively for the compositions that evolved in it. After work it was wonderful to be able to walk out on to the nearby Hambledon Hill, whose high perspectives and ancient landscape acted as a perfect counterpoint to the slightly claustrophobic intensity of the attic.

The Art Stable specialises in con­temp­orary and 20th Century British paintings, prints and ceramics, presenting eight exhibitions a year of established and emerging artists. There are two spaces, next door to each other. The gallery is situated in the courtyard of an organic farm next door to a farm shop and a cafe with a view towards the spectacular iron age hill fort, Hambledon Hill.

The exhibition runs from 5 February to 5 March 2022. During exhibitions the gallery is open from Thursday to Saturday 10am – 3pm.

My Working Processes: step-by-step with time-lapse video

posted

People sometimes ask me to describe my working processes so, as it’s Sunday, here they are. I have only taken sequential images of a painting in progress once, so have dug those out to put into an animation. It was a self portrait commission from Turkish collector Omer Koç in 2011 (the brief was simple: do whatever you want!)

For some reason I photographed it every few days over about three months. What surprises me now is how little changes from start to finish; at the time I feel like I’m continually adjusting everything, and indeed I am…but what seems like a big change to me at the time is probably quite tiny in fact.

Anyway, most of the compositional development happens during the planning stage: after the first idea, I make drawings from imagination initially, then from the subject in front of me to see how it differs, then scores of little thumb nail sketches adjusting, honing and generally working the thing through on beer mats or backs of envelopes. When the composition stops changing from sketch to sketch I square up the latest, in order to transfer the main rhythms and proportions to a prepared canvas.

Photo of the artist working on Self Portrait with Grave Goods and holding the shaving mirror
Photo of the artist working on Self Portrait with Grave Goods and holding the shaving mirror

A proprietary oil painting primer is then used to create a monochrome under-painting, working quickly and directly from life, generally in one day. Being indelible and relatively spontaneous this lays down a road map to prevent my getting lost along the way, but leaves room for improvisation. It also allows me to control where I want the luminosity. As I like to use thin translucent oil (with occasional bravado patches of impasto) some of the ridges and brush marks of this ‘skeleton’ remain visible throughout, meaning early quirks don’t get lost along the way.

The compositional drawings, which I regard as disposable, then generally get shredded and composted.

Photo of the artist working on Self Portrait with Grave Goods and holding the shaving mirror

[Originally posted to Instagram]

Photo of the artist working on Self Portrait with Grave Goods and holding the shaving mirror

A proprietary oil painting primer is then used to create a monochrome under-painting, working quickly and directly from life, generally in one day. Being indelible and relatively spontaneous this lays down a road map to prevent my getting lost along the way, but leaves room for improvisation. It also allows me to control where I want the luminosity. As I like to use thin translucent oil (with occasional bravado patches of impasto) some of the ridges and brush marks of this ‘skeleton’ remain visible throughout, meaning early quirks don’t get lost along the way.

The compositional drawings, which I regard as disposable, then generally get shredded and composted.

[Originally posted to Instagram]

Photo of the artist working on Self Portrait with Grave Goods and holding the shaving mirror

Exhibition now open at Waterhouse & Dodd, London.

My exhibition at Waterhouse and Dodd’s Savile Row gallery is now open. Despite the prevailing difficulties, gallery director Jamie Anderson will be in attendance at all times and welcomes visitors to view the works by appointment.

This is my fourth show with the gallery; the first two at their Cork Street premises, then Albemarle Street, and now Savile Row, and we do hope you will be able to brave the virus and make us a masked visit! Social distancing will be carefully maintained at all times for your safety.The exhibition at 16 Savile Row runs from today, 20th October to 13th November, but in the event of further lockdown, may be extended.

Poster from 2020 one-man show at Waterhouse and Dodd featuring
"Seated Girl with Three-tiered Table" and two still lifes adorn the gallery walls.
Oil paintings, "Still Life with Cello" and "Excavated Clarinet" hang on the gallery wall.
"Figure with box" , "Three pots" and "Still life with orchid" hanging at one-man show in Savile Row
Interior of Savile Row gallery with works by the artist hanging.

New still life at London Art Fair.

Pencil on paper preparatory drawing for painting featuring bananas

Waterhouse and Dodd will be showing a new still life, Copper Basket with Fruit at the London Art Fair, Islington. They will be exhibiting works by Frank Auerbach, Henry Moore and Ben Johnson, alongside represented contemporary artists Martyn Brewster, and Clive Head.

They will also be displaying paintings, drawings and prints from the estates ofWilhelmina Barns-Graham, Dennis Creffield, Richard Eurich, Leonard McComb, Dorothy Mead and Jon Schuele.

The fair runs from 22nd Jan – 26th 2020 at the Business Design Centre, 52 Upper St, London N1 0QH.

Still life oil painting of a basket, bananas and a pepper mill

Palm Beach Modern + Contemporary Art Fair, Miami, 2020

Waterhouse and Dodd will be taking three of my works to the Palm Beach Modern + Contemporary Art Fair, Miami. The dates are 9th – 12th January. The VIP preview is 9th January.

Also works by Jeff Koons, Yayoi Kusama, Norman Bluhm, Georges Braque, Salvador Dali, Keith Haring, Jean-Francois Rauzier, Clive Head, Alex Katz, Marino Marini, Henry Moore, Robert Rauschenberg, Milton Avery, and Frank Stella.

Royal Society of Portrait Painters Annual Exhibition 2019

This year I shall be exhibiting Portrait of the Photographer with Seated Girl at the Royal Society of Portrait Painters annual exhibition at the Mall Galleries.

Portrait photographer Alistair Morrison approached me last year with a proposal to collaborate on a Sit for me sitting for you project to be entitled Portrait of the Artist through the Artist’s eyes.

Painting a photographer was something I had long felt I would like to attempt, so this seemed to present the perfect opportunity. The subsequent sittings proved to be an interesting and stimulating time, comparing the different approaches and disciplines involved in achieving our aims. As this painting was to be included in his portrait of me, I decided that in the interests of symmetry I would include one of his photographs on the wall behind him!

Alistair has had a long and distinguished career photographing many notable international figures and cultural or sporting icons, with over 80 images in the National Portrait Gallery photographic collection.
Most recently, he has completed a series of Legacy Photographs, applying his signature style of portraiture to depict historic collections of notable actors, sportsmen, Britons and musicians.

Alistair and Michael at entrance to Mall Stereet Galleries

The exhibition opens at The Mall Galleries on 9 May 2019 until 24th May. 10am-5pm. Open until 7pm on Tuesday 14 and 21 May.

Oil painting of a man using a camera

Figure with Box wins Smallwood Architects Prize

Michael at the doors of Mall

Figure with Box is currently on display at the Royal Society of Portrait Painters annual exhibition at the Mall Galleries, London, where it was awarded the Smallwood Architects Prize for ‘contextual portraiture’.

The award is for a portrait in which architectural or interior features play an important part. Smallwood Architects are London architects who pride themselves on bringing a profound respect for the historic basis of our built environment. Their motto is “Creating Beautiful Buildings that Enhance our Clients’ Lives” and believe that the outstanding architecture of the past can inspire the architecture of our time. The exhibition opens on 10 May 2018 at the Mall Galleries and continues until 25 May 2018.

Oil painting with weighing scales being revealed

Feature article on Scriba Stylus website

A hand holds a Scriba, a radical new stylus design for mobile devices.Like most painters now, I often enjoy messing about drawing on the iPad.

I have consequently spent far too much on a variety of useless stylus that lag, scratch, or draw off centre. I noticed by chance on an update to the lovely ZenBrush2 app a new and completely different stylus called Scriba which responds to the hand pressure. I had always found pressing harder on a glass screen counter intuitive, so I bought one. Initial experiences were so positive that I sent them a fan letter, and in return they have featured an interview with me on their featured artist blog. You can read it here: https://www.getscriba.com/artist-spotlight-michael-taylor.

I have no commercial connection with Scriba.

Boy with Apple features in ‘100 Greatest Props in Movie History’ list

I, the late Johannes Van Hoytl, am gratified to hear that my most celebrated work, Boy with Apple appears in the Thrillist feature ‘The 100 Greatest Props in Movie History’.

The painting was commissioned by Wes Anderson for his Oscar and Grammy winning film ‘The Grand Budapest Hotel’. It sits at number 91, somewhere in between Forrest Gump’s box of chocolates and the dentist’s drill from Marathon Man.

"Boy with Apple" in animated lighting effect from film
movie still
movie still

Images courtesy of
Fox Searchlight Pictures.

Still life, Korean style

Korean screen paintings of items found on the bookshelves of scholars
Korean Ch’aekorri examples

I first saw Korean Ch’aekorri still life paintings while visiting my son there last year. The heavy symbolism, distinctive colours and strange inverted perspective had a strong effect on me, and has consequently begun seep into some of my recent work.

Still Life with Orchid (Ch’aekorri style) was a result of giving in to the influence and seeing what happens. In Korea, these compositions are often painted on screens, so tend to have tall and thin proportions. It was only after completing the painting that I looked more closely at the originals, and was surprised at just how much of the style, colours, content and compositional devices I had unconsciously absorbed.

Oil painting of assorted items on a table and on shelves

London Art Fair 2017

Recently completed painting Figure with Box will be exhibited by Waterhouse and Dodd on stand 8 at the 29th London Art Fair in January, 2017.

The interior of the Business Design Centre during the 2020 London Art Fair

An annual event, the fair traditionally launches the art world year and runs from 18th until 22nd of January.

Located in the Business Design Centre, 52 Upper Street, London N1 0QH the London Art Fair is always an exciting and busy event. It provides a wonderful environment for collectors to enjoy museum quality Modern British art alongside contemporary work from some of today’s leading artists, and a visit is highly recommended.

Oil painting with weighing scales being revealed

Willow Foundation charity auction

I was asked earlier this year to contribute a painting to Stars on Canvas, the biennial on-line auction in November organised by the Willow Foundation. I was very happy to create a new still life to support this very worthwhile charity, and hope you will make a bid to contribute to their good work. You will also avail yourself of a rare opportunity to acquire one of my original oil paintings as a bonus!

Each contributor was given an identical 8 inch square canvas, Other contributors to date include Gerald Scarfe, Will.I.Am, Peter Firmin, Anthony Frost, Eileen Cooper, Kylie Minogue,Tom Jones, Axel Scheffler, Rod Stewart, Martyn Brewster, David Jason and many, many more. Please give us your support too. All works can be viewed online at the Stars on Canvas website

Blue Vase with rose hip will be displayed at the Willow art initiative, Stars on Canvas 2016, Quadrant Arcade, Regent Street, London W1B 5HF. More than 200 original artworks created by artists and celebrities will be on display from Wednesday 23 – Sunday 27 November, and auctioned online. All are welcome to pop in and view this truly eclectic mix of artworks.

Willow is the only national charity working with seriously ill young adults aged 16 to 40 to fulfil uplifting and unforgettable Special Days.
Since 1999 Willow has fulfilled more than 13,000 Special Days for young adults living with life-threatening conditions such as cancer, motor neurone disease, cystic fibrosis, muscular dystrophy and Huntington’s disease.

Small square oil painting with leafy sprig in a spherical glass vase.

[The ebay auction has now closed]

Royal Society of Portrait Painters Exhibition 2016

The exterior of the entrance to the Mall Galleries in London

I will be showing three works including a new self portrait at the Royal Society of Portrait Painters annual exhibition at the Mall Galleries, London. The exhibition runs from 5th May-20th May 2016,10am to 5pm, Late nights on Tuesday (7pm).

The main exhibition is formed of about 220 works and is in two parts: a cohort of work by members and works by non-member artists who have successfully competed to be included in the show. The exhibition aims to include the best of a wide variety of styles in painted and drawn media. Michael is an elected member of the RP.

The artist painting himself as a grumpy old man.

Work on display at Waterhouse and Dodd

Four paintings, including the first Gallery showing of the recent still life Grinder, are currently on display at Waterhouse and Dodd‘s Albemarle Street gallery in London. They will be shown alongside an exhibition of recent work by British artist Jemimah Patterson.

Patterson’s works hover between two and three-dimensional disciplines engaging with narrative and memory and drawing from symbolism and surrealism, and are heavily influenced through being one of a conjoined set of identical twins who were surgically separated at birth. Her twinning creates resonant psychological dimensions that are reflected in her compositions, for instance paired or mirrored motifs recur throughout her work, often creating surrogate double portraits. Her magnetic attraction to doubled imagery emerges in her manipulation of shadows and mirrors. The reflective surfaces of both glass and mirror for her chosen medium allow her to explore these ideas of duplicity and identity further.

Notes to the Exhibition
Fine drawing of a grinder by Michael Taylor

New Still Life

Waterhouse and Dodd will be showing Michael’s new still life Grinder at the London Art Fair, Jan 20th-24th 2016 at the Business Design Centre, 52 Upper Street, London N1 0QH.

As well as Grinder, Fallen Machine will also be on view, and a selection of Modern British and Contemporary artworks including; David Bomberg, Martyn Brewster, Michael Canning, Maurice Cockrill, Dorothy Mead, Henry Moore, John Piper, Miles Richmond, Michael Taylor, Keith Vaughan. They will be located at Stand 40.

Still life oil painting of an antique in meticulous detail
Still life oil painting of metal parts on a breadboard

Recent still lifes at Waterhouse and Dodd, London

Waterhouse and Dodd

Waterhouse and Dodd will be presenting five new works at the gallery in February 2015. Their second gallery will feature a selection of work curated by Michael from gallery stock, including further oil paintings and works on paper by the artist.

The exhibition at Waterhouse and Dodd, 47 Albemarle Street , London, opens on 4th Februrary 2015 and will run until 25th Februrary 2015.

Having painted at least two or three figure paintings a year for the last 35, I recently decided to concentrate on a series of small, intensively worked still lifes. Denied the emotional charge and inevitable narrative element that is generated whilst working with a sitter, I have found myself transposing these qualities onto the inanimate objects I was working with, investing them with a particular psychological and poetic intensity which might otherwise have been reserved for the figure work.

Michael

Self Portrait on display at Turner Contemporary

Pencil drawing portrays the artist pondering his heredity

The National Portrait Gallery’s drawing, Self Portrait (in memory of my father), is to be shown as part of an exhibition devoted to self portraiture at Turner Contemporary, Margate. Opening on 25th January, and organized jointly with the NPG, ‘Self: Image and Identity: Self-portraiture from Van Dyck to Louise Bourgeois’ is being staged to showcase their newly acquired Van Dyck self portrait.

The catalogue notes say:

In this extraordinary new exhibition, Turner Contemporary becomes a frame through which self-portraiture is re-evaluated in the 21st century, sparking conversations on history, celebrity, collecting, gender, mortality and contemporary approaches.

We reflect on artists’ self-portraits from Sir Anthony van Dyck’s last Self-portrait of 1640-1, recently saved for the nation, to Louise Bourgeois. Over 100 works, most of which are from the National Portrait Gallery London, are brought together for an expansive look at the artists’ self.
Historical and contemporary artists sit side by side, including Sir Anthony van Dyck, Mary Beale, Louise Bourgeois, John Constable, Tracey Emin, Jason Evans, Lucian Freud, Antony Gormley, Damien Hirst, David Hockney, Angelica Kauffmann, Sarah Lucas, Gillian Wearing, Yinka Shonibare MBE, JMW Turner and Andy Warhol.

Be challenged, surprised, and think differently.’

The exhibition, at Turner Contemporary in Margate, runs from January 23rd – 10th May 2015.

Royal Society of Portrait Painters at the Gallery, Winchester

I will be showing two works, Couple (1990) and Woman Cradling Glass Vessel (2010) in the exhibition ‘Family, familiar’ at the Gallery at the Discovery Centre in Winchester, 22nd March-11th May 2014. Described by the gallery as:

“A selection of paintings by members of The Royal Society of Portrait Painters, which takes the theme of ‘family; familiar’ as the starting point for a specially curated exhibition. Featuring self-portraits and portraits of the artists’ family members, as well as portraits of people who have played an important role in the development of their careers by inspiring, supporting and facilitating their creativity.

“This exhibition will be an intimate collection of portraiture, depicting the hidden views and hidden stories in the life of the artists and the people that surround them.”

Charming 1969 painting by Michael Taylor of himself and Caroline in flight
Flying (1969)
Oil painting of two people alone together in the attic

The exhibition notes to Couple read:

“Painted in 1990 shortly after moving into my new studio, my wife Caroline and I inhabit our own individual spaces whilst nonetheless remaining intimately connected. The small figures seen through the rather theatrical aperture created by the parted curtains of her hair are derived from a painting done in 1969 of us aged 17 entitled ‘Flying’. This is merely a description of how the composition was made: it should not be taken as an attempt to convey any implied meaning, which I hope the viewer will be stimulated to supply for themselves.”

Oil painting with a face reflected in a shaving mirror

Likewise, the notes to Woman Cradling Glass Vessel read:

“The model was my wife, and the picture was painted in 2010 at a time of personal and various family changes: For instance, I remember that the reflected portrait was done very shortly after putting our son Richard on a plane to live in South Korea. Once again though, this was only a starting point to begin the process of composition, and the intent is that it’s meaning (if any) remains openly ambiguous.”

Sir John Tavener 1944-2013

On 12th of November the world lost a truly unique personality and composer, and I lost a very dear friend and neighbour. John had that rare quality of a formidable intellect combined with a child’s trusting heart, and the combination could be devastating. I had painted a portrait of this lovely, impossible, brilliant, difficult, kind and often very funny man in 2001 for the National Portrait Gallery, and although we stayed in touch, it was only since he returned following a long stay in hospital after his last serious illness in 2007 that we became close.

He was very weak at first, so after work I would visit him at his home and we would chat gently, or I might draw him while he reclined on the large comfortable sofa that became his daytime residence and where latterly he did his composing. Despite often being in considerable discomfort, he unfailingly made kind enquiries after the progress of whatever I was working on, before rummaging around in the litter of manuscript paper and dogs that surrounded him to show me the progress of the latest composition, or to read me a poem he thought might yield good material. He knew full well that I couldn’t read a note of music, and his visual sense ( if he had one at all) was extremely patchy, but it didn’t seem to matter, and anyway, I always enjoyed looking at the distinctive freely penciled rhythms and patterns of his scores.

Pencil sketch by the artist of the composer, John Tavener, in final repose.

It was a joy to watch as, week by week, his interest in, and inspiration for composing returned. I feel these recent works have tremendous clarity, warmth and humanity, whilst looking mortality full in the face. They represent an immensely inspiring achievement in the face of often bleakly debilitating ill health, and are a tribute to his wife Maryanna’s loving support.

My most enduring memory however will be of how much we laughed together….and of his often wickedly irreverent comments that would unerringly hit the nail full on the head.

RIP John. It was a privilege to know you, and I shall miss you very much.

Still life show at Waterhouse and Dodd

A new still life, Broken Camera with Red Curtain, will join two other recent works at the forthcoming mixed exhibition of contemporary still life painting at Waterhouse and Dodd in Cork Street, London. The show will be the last at their Cork Street premises before the gallery moves to a new space in Albermarle Street (due to the controversial Cork Street redevelopment).

The exhibition opens on 15th May 2013, and runs until 7th June. A PDF of the catalogue (6.2 MB: requires Adobe Reader) is available. Other artists featured in the exhibition include, Edmund Chamberlain, Karen Gunderson, Claire Jarvis,Stephen McKenna, Jemimah Patterson, Brian Sayers, and Jennifer Trouton.

The main camera which features in the new painting is my old, and now defunct, stereoscopic (3D) 35mm Edixa. So, for those who may be interested, a stereo image of the work in progress can be viewed below. This photo was taken with my Fuji W3 stereo digital camera.

Still life oil painting including a defunct stereoscopic Edixa camera
Wide-eyed stereo pair photographs of the artist painting a defunct 3D camera

Wow – that;s an amazing picture of a picture of a stereo event ! Love it…..

Brian May. Stereographer extraordinaire, astronomer and guitarist

Portrait of Sir John Tavener on loan to Barber Institute

The Barber Institute of Fine Arts in Birmingham will be showing Michael’s portrait of Sir John Tavener as part of a collection of portraits of 20th century composers. The exhibition, a joint project with the National Portrait Gallery titled “Facing the Music”, will be formally opened by Michael on 24th May and will run from 25th May- 27th August 2012.

The exhibition also includes among others portraits of Holst, Elgar, Tippett, Walton, Adès, and Birtwistle. It is being co-curated by University of Birmingham postgraduate students: Emily Cotterill, Qian Gao, Oliver McCall, Imogen Wiltshire and Sophie Rycroft under the head of collections and learning Robert Wenley.

The Barber Institute of Fine Arts is an art gallery and concert hall on the campus of the University of Birmingham.

Described by the Observer as “one of the finest small art galleries in Europe” the Barber Institute houses works by Monet, Manet, and Magritte; Renoir, Rubens, Rossetti and Rodin; Degas, Delacroix and van Dyck — not to mention Botticelli, Poussin, Turner, Gainsborough, Gauguin, van Gogh, Picasso, Hodgkin and more. The Barber is also home to the University of Birmingham’s departments of History of Art and Music, as well as the Barber Fine Art and Music libraries.

Portrait in oils of the great English composer

Portrait of Andy Sheppard on show at new Holburne Museum exhibition

Michael’s portrait of jazz saxophonist Andy Sheppard is on show as part of an exibition called “Local Heroes” which showcases the Holburne Museum Portrait Prize commissions, and runs from 21st April-24th June 2012.

The exhibition is to be held in the Wirth Gallery, part of the wonderful museum extension opened last year and will include two new prize commissions. David Fisher, who won the Holburne Museum’s 2008 Portrait Prize, has completed a painting of actress Stephanie Cole, while the 2010 winner Sally Muir has painted comedian Bill Bailey. The portrait prize, which runs every two years, began in 2002 and the previous paintings are of Glastonbury Festival founder Michael Eavis, jazz saxophonist Andy Sheppard and the Aardman directors Nick Park, Peter Lord and David Sproxton with their creations Wallace and Gromit and Morph.

Michael won the Holburne Museum Portrait Prize in 2002 for Couple wih Lamp.

The three storey modern extension to the Holburne Museum, an art gallery in Bath, England

At the Holburne Museum you will find a beautiful and fascinating art collection in one of Bath’s great buildings. Their stunning new extension with its galleries and garden café opens onto the park behind, serving fresh, seasonal lunches, delicious cakes and fairly traded coffee and tea.

With everything from Renaissance treasures to masterpieces by Gainsborough and from fine embroideries to exquisite silver there is lots to enjoy and explore. An exciting programme of events and changing exhibitions means there will always be something new to discover.

Portrait in oils of the British jazz saxophonist

Lynn Painter-Stainers Prize

Coat of Arms of The Painter-Stainers’ Company

Piano Pieces has been shortlisted for the Lynn Painter-Stainers Prize 2012. The exhibition of this year’s finalists, which is free, can be seen at the Mall Galleries from 28th March until 5th April, and then later from 23rd-27th April at WH Patterson Gallery in Albemarle Street, London.

Created in 2005 by the Worshipful Company of Painter-Stainers and the Lynn Foundation, the purpose of the Prize is to encourage creative representational painting and promote the skill of draughtsmanship. This annual competition is open to all UK artists with prize money totalling £25,000 and an engraved gold medal for the winner.

Still life oil painting of a yellow rubber glove resting on debris

Self portrait drawing acquired by National Portrait Gallery

Self Portrait (In Memory of my Father) was acquired by The National Portrait Gallery, London in February, 2012. It joins their collection of artists’ self portraits.

At the beginning of 2011 I was engaged for several months on a large oil Self Portrait with Grave Goods during which time it became clear that my Father’s health was deteriorating rapidly. In retrospect, I think that this, quite naturally, begun to be reflected in the developing content of the painting. Indeed, when I showed it to him he commented that it was the first time he had seen anything of himself in one of my self portraits.

Some months later, on returning from his funeral, I felt very strongly the change brought on by his passing, and wanted to reflect on the new territory I found myself in. For a figurative painter I do very few drawings, or rather the hundreds that I do in preparation for a painting I consider to be private working diagrams, unintended for exhibition. However, as my paintings take many months, and I very much wanted these explorations of the shifting ground between my late Father and myself to be done quickly , I decided to use pencil drawing. I did three, working intensely and fairly rapidly, and this, the second, I felt to be the most successful.

Michael Taylor: notes accompanying drawing
Pencil drawing portrays the artist pondering his heredity

Scheringa Museum update

The abandoned Scheringa Museum for Realisme was designed of brick and reinforced concrete to stand in the flat polderland of North Holland.

Following the collapse of the DSB Bank owned by Dirk Scheringa, it’s main creditor, ABN Amro, seized the entire collection, which had been used to raise money for the construction of the now nearly completed new 38 million euro museum building.

“….they came like thieves in the night”, said tearful museum staff.

Ownership of the collection passed from ABM Amro to Deutsche Bank. At the end of 2011, the future of the premises and collection of the museum remains unclear.

The artist stands with his arm resting on an oil painting in 2006

Self Portrait commission

The artist in his attic studio stands beside "Self Portrait with Grave Goods"

I am currently in a time of rest to let things settle so I can wait to see what floats to the surface again, and what sinks without trace. I very much hope to emerge refreshed and ready to tackle whatever comes up.

The first four months of the year have been spent creating a Self Portrait with Grave Goods (and shaving mirror). It formed the culmination of six years of non stop work which provided the content for my two one man shows at Waterhouse and Dodd, interspersed with one or two portrait commissions. I saw this self portrait, a commission from a Turkish collector, as a chance to reflect on this period and finally dump myself and a collection of redundant props and metaphoric objects in the attic tomb, and seal the entrance.

Oil painting of the artist with a shaving mirror

London exhibition of recent paintings at Waterhouse & Dodd

This one-man show runs from 24 November until 17 December 2010 at Waterhouse & Dodd, 26 Cork Street, London W1S 3ND.

The exhibition is showing five new figure paintings and four still lifes created over the last three years.

……the reality is sometimes only apparent. The old studio, itself a strong character in the work, distorts to suit a subject. Regular props, as the modern two- or three-tiered glass table, suddenly swoop and twist like one of Claude Flight’s London Underground trains. In Piano Pieces the instrument’s hammers are heaped on a card table like the offal of an autopsy with the Marigold glove flung aside by a pathologist, while an upturned castor appears to have made a failed bid for the door………all sorts of art historical resonances are there to be enjoyed as well as the stories, symbols and sheer technical mastery.

Huon Mallalieu
in the intoduction to the catalogue
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……the reality is sometimes only apparent. The old studio, itself a strong character in the work, distorts to suit a subject. Regular props, as the modern two- or three-tiered glass table, suddenly swoop and twist like one of Claude Flight’s London Underground trains. In Piano Pieces the instrument’s hammers are heaped on a card table like the offal of an autopsy with the Marigold glove flung aside by a pathologist, while an upturned castor appears to have made a failed bid for the door………all sorts of art historical resonances are there to be enjoyed as well as the stories, symbols and sheer technical mastery.

Huon Mallalieu
in the intoduction to the catalogue

New work at Waterhouse and Dodd 2010

After a three and a half year period of quiet and reflective work in my Dorset studio I will be holding a one man show of new paintings at Waterhouse and Dodd in Cork Street, London which will open on November 24th 2010.

The new works are a mixture of figure paintings and still lifes, and will be reproduced on this site as soon as the exhibition catalogue is available. They will also be displayed on the Waterhouse and Dodd gallery website.

The new paintings have all been painted in the same attic space that I have worked in for over twenty five years. Far from finding this restrictive or monotonous, my familiarity with its flaking structure, conflicting light sources and billowing elm floorboards have provided me with an instantly accessible visual vocabulary. I feel that this familiarity allows me to instinctively manipulate these elements freely and unconsciously to emotional ends. As I work on only one painting at a time, this continuity is for me a vital thread that runs through each composition and binds it into the next. Continuity also applies to my subjects that are all people or objects that I am familiar with in one way or another.

The images on this page are all photographs taken in my attic studio.

The painting "Small Vice with Blue Glass" rests against the wall beside the small corner wall cupboard (as seen in "Fruit Basket with Icon").
A pair of shoes admires their representation in oil on canvas.
The artist in his Dorset attic studio while creating the painting "Seated Figure with Cycle Helmet"
The artist with his sitter and a work in progress painting: "Seated Girl with Three-tiered Table"
The painting "Small Vice with Blue Glass" rests against the wall beside the small corner wall cupboard (as seen in "Fruit Basket with Icon").
A pair of shoes admires their representation in oil on canvas.

Scheringa Museum acquisitions

The Scheringa Museum has acquired Portrait with Grave Goods and Model Steam Engine (Self Portrait) for their permanent collection. These will join Grl rsting on swvl chr which they had previously purchased from Michael’s exhibition at Waterhouse and Dodd in 2006.

Scheringa Museum of Realist Art was a museum in  North Holland, the Netherlands that housed around five hundred works of the 20th-century art

The museum, which houses a unique collection of Dutch Realist Art and international contemporary figurative painting, is currently in the process of an ambitious and exciting new building project due to be opened in 2010 where it will be able to permanently display its entire collection as well as being able to host visiting exhibitions.

Oil painting of a seated woman looking at us
Oil painting of the artist with a machine

Royal Society of Portrait Painters Exhibition 2008

Mr Paul Beckett (left) stands in front of his portrait with its artist Michael Taylor, at the Mall Galleries in central London, where the Royal Society of Portrait Painters is holding its annual exhibition.
John Stillwell/PA

Michael’s portrait of Paul Beckett, amateur heavyweight boxer, committed Manx lawyer, qualified masseur and tattooed man with an appetite for human rights issues was exhibited at this year’s Royal Society of Portrait Painters annual exhibition at the Mall Galleries 24th April-11th May 2008.

The portrait was first discussed in 2004, originally for Beckett’s 50th birthday in October 2006. In the event, Paul said, “light levels in a Manx autumn being what they are, we decided to postpone the work until last July. I sat for 30 hours, staring into a mirror in my wife’s gym at our home, listening to late Beethoven, Schubert and Messiaen. Michael played the same music when he returned to his home in Dorset to complete the work.”

Is Beckett pleased with the end result? “Certainly,” he says, without hesitation. “The portrait is in reflection, and layered with partly hidden meanings. The experience of staring at my own image for such a length of time was utterly cathartic.” Or, as he says about the image on his left thigh: “This is a Japanese Kabuki Theatre image from 1752 – the actor is taking off his costume armour, no longer the warrior but the man within. So too myself, as the lawyer becomes Paul at the end of each working day.”

Portrait in oils of a tattooed man looking in a mirror

Geffrye Museum Exhibition

The Museum of the Home, formerly the Geffrye Museum, is in 18th-century former almshouses in Hoxton, London.

Michael’s portrait of PD James is on loan to an exhibition of British paintings and drawings of English, middle class, urban domestic spaces ,1914-2006 at the Geffrye Museum.

The portrait, which is on loan from the National Portrait Gallery, was painted in 1997 in the author’s Holland park home. The exhibition which is the third part of a major survey of the genre runs from 16th October 2007 until 4th February 2008

Set in former almshouses, the museum uses a series of fine period rooms to present the history of the English domestic interior from 1600 to the present day.

Portrait in oils of the distinguished English novelist

House of Lords portrait of Lord Falconer

Michael at the House of Lords for the unveiling of his portrait of the Lord Chancellor: he stands beside the painting.

In 2006, Michael was commissioned by the UK Houses of Parliament to paint the then Lord Chancellor, Lord Falconer, for the House of Lords collection. The reform of the role in 2006 has meant that in effect the painting marks the last in a line of such portraits stretching back to the Norman Conquest. The portrait was unveiled at the house of Lords on July 9th 2007.

In their youth, Charles Falconer became a friend of Tony Blair, former UK Prime Minister. Under Blair’s patronage, Falconer was made a life peer in May 1997. He was subsequently promoted to various high offices of state. This included taking ministerial responsibility for the Millennium Dome and being the first Secretary of State for Justice. After Blair’s departure as PM in June 2007, he was replaced in all his ministerial posts. From May 2015 until June 2016, he was Shadow Lord Chancellor and Shadow Secretary of State for Justice. He was appointed as Shadow Attorney General in the in April 2020, and stepped down from the role in November 2021.

Portrait in oils of the British Labour peer and barrister

London Exhibition (2006)

The artists first one-manshow (2006) can be made out through the reflections in the gallery window.

A one-man show is to be held at Waterhouse and Dodd, 26 Cork Street London, 22nd November-22nd December, 2006.

The quotation shown here is taken from the forward to the catalogue for the exhibition.

Michael Taylor was one of the first artists with whom we made contact when we began our contemporary program; indeed he was present at our first contemporary private view. Despite this, it has taken over two years to put together this exhibition. Michael only produces around four paintings a year, and so to commit to a solo exhibition was a major undertaking for him. Renowned for his commissions for the National Portrait Gallery, his time is divided between portraits and his own private paintings, although notable portrait commissions have been delayed while Michael has prepared for this exhibition. We have been excited to see new paintings slowly appear from Michael’s attic studio, each one conceived with the same meticulous attention to detail yet each individual in content and meaning.

Michael’s last exhibition was almost a decade ago, so it is a rare privilege to stage this show of new work. A past article in Art Review talks of “Teasing ambiguities (which) make Michael Taylor’s beautifully composed figure paintings continually fascinating. They are pictures that need a lot of looking at. These paintings reveal themselves over time, although the technique is immediately startling. Our thanks go to the private collectors of Michael’s work who have loaned two of the exhibits to our exhibition (Couple with lamp and Woman with jug). These important paintings are pertinent to the main body of the exhibition and add enormously to the viewers’ understanding of Michael’s oeuvre.

We look forward to welcoming you and showing you the paintings, but suggest you might make a second visit to appreciate fully the complexity and beauty of the work on show.

Jamie Anderson and Jemimah Campbell
Waterhouse & Dodd Contemporary Art
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