First Royal Portrait of Kate Unveiled

The first official portrait of Prince William's wife Catherine was unveiled Friday at a London gallery where it was hailed by its subject as "amazing" but slammed by some critics.

Published

4 months ago

Categories

Arts & Society

Topics

Arts & Culture

People

Kate Middleton, Paul Emsley

Places

London, United Kingdom

Transcript

SHOTLIST LONDON, 11 JAN, 2013 SOURCE: AFPTV -VAR of portrait, artist and media SOUNDBITE 1: Paul Emsley, artist (English, 27 sec) "I wanted to express something of her natural self something to do with warm personality which comes across and I hope that it comes across in the eyes and in her half smile and also we worked mainly on an image outside where her hair was blowing in the breeze lightly which gaves me very interesting shape to work with. But she is a warm generous person and I hope and I do hope the portrait conveys that." -VAR of portrait, artist and media SOUNDBITE 2: Paul Emsley, artist (English, 10 sec) "She has spent one day…not a complete day but almost a complete day with us for the first session. And the second session was two hours at the palace at Kensington." -VAR of portrait, artist and media SOUNDBITE 2: Paul Emsley, artist (English, 2 sec) "She says she is delighted and so does her husband." -VAR of portrait, artist and media ----------------- AFP TEXT STORY First royal portrait of Kate unveiled LONDON, Jan 11, 2013 (AFP) - The first official portrait of Prince William's wife Catherine was unveiled Friday at a London gallery where it was hailed by its subject as "amazing" but slammed by some critics. The National Portrait Gallery commissioned award-winning artist Paul Emsley to produce the painting of the Duchess of Cambridge, who is expecting her first child this summer, after she became patron of the gallery early last year. The 31-year-old royal, who attended a private viewing of the painting with her husband on Friday ahead of its unveiling to the public, told the artist: "It's just amazing, I thought it was brilliant." Prince William added: "It's beautiful, it's absolutely beautiful." But some critics panned the softly-hued work. Robin Simon, editor of the British Art Journal, told the Daily Mail: "Fortunately, the Duchess of Cambridge looks nothing like this in real life. I'm really sad to say this is a rotten portrait." Ben Luke in the London Evening Standard said it was a "gentle, soft-focus image, like a delicately airbrushed photograph or a vaseline-lensed view of a Hollywood star". Emsley, whose previous commissions have included South African icon Nelson Mandela and author V S Naipaul, explained his approach. "The Duchess explained that she would like to be portrayed naturally -- her natural self -- as opposed to her official self," he said, adding: "She struck me as enormously open and generous and a very warm person." Catherine, who last month spent several days in hospital with a severe form of morning sickness, met with the artist and his family following the viewing and was looking well. The head and shoulders portrait, set on Emsley's trademark dark background, was built up using thin layers of oil paint and glazes,with Kate attending two sittings last summer. National Portrait Gallery Director Sandy Nairne praised Emsley for creating "a captivating contemporary image".