5 minute read
‘Warm, approachable, interested’
Artist Alastair Adams on painting Professor Colin Lawson’s Royal College of Music portrait.
Almost every outgoing Director of the Royal College of Music has had their portrait painted, becoming a part of the living history of the College. Alastair Adams was commissioned to paint Professor Colin Lawson’s portrait following consultation with the Royal Society of Portrait Painters, of which he was elected President in 2008; he is currently the Society’s Honorary Treasurer and Honorary Archivist. Alastair’s body of work includes portraits of such famous faces as Richard E Grant, Nick Frost and Tony Blair.
Upbeat asked Alastair about the process of painting Professor Colin Lawson’s portrait for the Royal College of Music.
His character comes across in the warmth of his expression. He’s very easy going: warm, open, interested in the process from an artistic perspective
What was your approach when painting Professor Colin Lawson’s portrait?
Colin invited me to visit the College so that I could get a sense of the place’s tone of voice. We looked at possible locations and I took photographs to give me ideas for compositions.
I liked the light and space of the Cotes-Burgan atrium. It was transformed during Colin’s tenure, and it’s a place where everything seems to cross over. The students and staff sit together, and there’s the modern and the traditional as you look across from the Café towards those lovely wrought-iron stairs in silhouette against the light coming from the windows in the background. I’ve enjoyed painting that light.
I started by sketching Colin. The sketching process allows you time to chat and find out more about the sitter. I returned to the studio and put together a composition of how I might place Colin into the College environment. Then I painted him on location, which was great because everybody in the Café watched – it became an inclusive process.
I refined the composition so that I could work in the studio from the photographs I took of Colin and the building. It’s a blended process and eventually it all comes together –but you don’t know what the final portrait will look like when you start. That’s where trust comes in. You have to go through the process and arrive at a finishing point – a bit like composing a piece of music.
How important is the RCM setting in this portrait?
You’ll be able to see the daily life of the institution going on in the background. If people can relate to a portrait’s setting and know what it’s like to be coming and going in those places, they feel included. They know what it’s like to be there, so they can empathise with the portrait; they feel as though it belongs to them.
There are some fantastic portraits in the Royal College of Music. The Vaughan Williams portrait by Gerald Festus Kelly is a seminal representation of his character – an absolutely fantastic painting. It’s good to look at the portraits in situ because you get an idea of scale and immediacy. I hope that Colin’s portrait tells you a lot about the place as well as the person. It’s about bringing everything together in one place – that’s what I hope the final portrait will do.
Tell us more about the experience of working with Colin.
Colin has been very generous with his time. Coming from an artistic background, he understands how much preparation goes into the final result. He came for a sitting in the studio – I don’t let people into my studio very often because it’s not terribly glamorous, but he pointed out that when people practise music at home, their surroundings aren’t as glamorous as concert halls. That made me feel better.
If somebody gives you the benefit of their time and are happy to relate to you, it makes the process easier. Artists are often more open; they’re prepared to take risks. Colin has always been open and as a result we’ve been able to talk about all sorts of subjects – we have connections and experiences in common. I haven’t persuaded him to play anything for me yet but I’m determined to – he’s seen me paint, so I’d like to hear him play.
You get a sense of his warm, approachable manner, and that helps to add colour to the portrait. His character comes across in the warmth of his expression. He’s very easy going: warm, open, interested in the process from an artistic perspective. I like the idea that both education and the artistry involved in music and painting have been able to come together to produce this final statement. It’s been good fun.
Joanna Wyld, RCM Publications & Content Officer
ROYAL COLLEGE OF MUSIC DIRECTORS’ PORTRAITS IN CONTEXT
Royal College of Music Museum Curator, Professor Gabriele Rossi Rognoni, told Upbeat: ‘Portraits often have the power to capture the Director’s personality and their most notable achievements in office. Portraits are commissioned directly by Council and the group currently includes seven works, mostly on display in the Director’s corridor and in the Amaryllis Fleming Concert Hall. While the College did not commission portraits for its first two Directors – which were eventually acquired at a later date – it was with the third Director, Sir Hugh Allen, that the tradition was established to commission portraits to mark Directors’ retirements.’
Royal College of Music Librarian, Peter Linnitt, explained to Upbeat that not every portrayal of Directors has been painted: ‘Sir George Grove is the only Director who is represented in our collection with both a portrait and a bronze bust. We do not have a painted portrait of Sir Hubert Parry, but we do have a bronze bust of him.’
