Download Three Royal Court Directors

Artist analysis
Justin Mortimer
The piece of work I have chosen to write about is about an artist who painted in black and white paint
.It was completed by 2004 by an artist called Justin Mortimer and is called Three royal court directors
. Actually Justin Mortimer won the BP portrait award in 1991. From then on came commissions and he
ended up painting the Queen in 1998. However the commission was controversial because Prue Leigh
who organized it said that it was not a proper portrait as we know it because the head was removed
from the body. Some of Mortimers paintings include war barbarism and death He was also
commissioned by David Bowie and Sir Steven Redgrave. However in this project I am concentrating on
his black and white painting . I think the work portrays the figures interlocked .In this piece of artwork I
can see the three men in conversartion .I think the artist is trying to say that there is a relationship
between them as they are all friends .In the foreground there are the two directors one carmly putting
his hand on the other. In the middle ground there appears to be another director but he is a little
distant from the others and appears a little worried and background there is just a dark mass . The
piece is painted drawn constructed from acrylic .The piece is using the media acrylic on a canvas. The
technique of has been used is painting wet on wet which means you can apply the paint directly over
the existing paint making adjustments .The artist may have used this technique to give the painting a
fresh vibrant look .The lines used in piece are are mainly to separate the figures from the dark
background .Even though there is a lot more of the background the figures are positioned in such a way
to the bottom left of the picture that you focus on the detail and tour eye goes straight there.Even
though thailed figurere is more of the background the composition relies on the fact that there are
these three detailed figures.The texture appears to be really thick paint so the figures really stand out
.The brushstrokes are small but follow the form of the body so they look really three dimensional
especially against the black flat background which makes the bodies appear even more three
dimensional .The patterns are .They create effect. The shapes and form in the work are .The tone in
the painting is full range going fr om white to grey medium grey to black . I think the story behind this
piece is
.I think the artist wanted us to understand that .I think the artist is trying to say that
.The piece of work makes me think of how tone can create a painting without needing to have colour . I
chose to write about this piece of work because we are experimenting with black and white before we
look at colour .I like his work because it has a really creative composition who would have thought that
dark space overtaking most of the picture could be balanced by real detail in a small area. That is what
works in this piece Also there has been good .I have been inspired by this piece of work to create part
of my face in the style of Morimer.
Three Royal Court Directors
Katie Mitchell Stephen Daldry Ian Rickson Commissioned by the Jerwood Foundation
for The
National Portrait Gallery 2004
Using this analysis in my work
Translation
I have produced a copy of the artists work concentrating on aspects of his work. To do this I have used
as a medium . In copying his work I had to understand his technique which is producing a lot of
different tones just using black and white acrylic paint .During the demonstration I realized that in order
to copy the style I had to a produce a number of small squares and label them one to ten. The lightest
would be number one ie white and then you would gradually get to the darkest tone . Then in sirs You
tube demo of student Ross Fisher you can see he located where the tones were almost like painting by
numbers then he painted both the lightest and then darkest in and then added the middle tone third so
he had a clear idea of the range. Then he made sure that the direction of the paint marks would follow
the form of the face. The next stages of the process were to make sure that I lighter than when you
first put them down so you should not be scared to apply them a little darker in anticipatrion that they
dry a little lighter . Finally I produced a valid copy by painting in black and white over my close up image
of my face .I did make mistakes which were putting the paint down in a clumsy way and needed to
practice the squares a couple of times before attempting my portrait close up . I think my copy of the
artist is reflective of his style because I have used the wet on wet technique but I also tried to make my
portrait three dimensional as Mortimer did by following the contour lines of the face using small blocks
of paint. .If I could have completed the copy again I would have improved my technique by looking at
trying to get more subtle combinations on the face.
I have been inspired by the artists work because
. The style of work fits into my project “I me
Mine ‘ because
. The artist has inspired me to complete a copy in his style because . I have
taken an aspect of the work and tried to use it in my work because . The aspect I have been most
impressed with is the artists composition, colour combinations . media use tonal arrangement because
Using the teacher demonstration and links to you tube techniques I have copied the artists style by .
The artifact I have used are similar to the artists objects because
,
Mortimer came to public attention when he won the National Gallery's BP Portrait Award in
1991.[3] He subsequently was given a number of important commissions, to paint well-known
public figures including Harold Pinter, Queen Elizabeth II, David Bowie and Sir Steven
Redgrave.[2]
Mortimer painted Queen Elizabeth in 1998. The commission marked her 50 years as President of
the Royal Society of Arts. Prue Leith, who arranged the commission, recalls the painting was
controversial because it showed the Queen's head separated from her body.[4]
Mortimer's recent paintings take on difficult subjects, including war, barbarism and death.[1][5]
References[edit]
Three Royal Court Directors
Jerwood Portrait Commission
THREE ROYAL COURT DIRECTORS
Stephen Daldry, Katie Mitchell, Ian Rickson
By Justin Mortimer
From Wednesday 8 September 2004
Room 41
The National Portrait Gallery and the Jerwood Charity are delighted to announce the completion of a new portrait of
three directors of London's Royal Court Theatre - Stephen Daldry, Katie Mitchell and Ian Rickson - which will go on
display at the Gallery from 8 September 2004. The portrait, by Justin Mortimer, is the second in a series of portrait
commissions, generously funded by the Jerwood Charity, to celebrate outstanding younger achievers in the arts who
have, in some way, been associated with the Jerwood Charity or Jerwood Foundation. Pushing the boundaries of
contemporary portrait painting, Justin Mortimer presents the three subjects in an interlocking group occupying a dark,
theatrical space.
The Royal Court, an international theatre for new plays and new playwrights, opened in 1956 and the newly
refurbished theatre in Sloane Square was re-launched in February 2000. George Devine, the first artistic director,
aimed to discover "hard-hitting, uncompromising writers whose plays are stimulating, provocative and exciting". Since
1994, the Jerwood Charity has been supporting new playwrights at the Royal Court, including Joe Penhall, Sarah
Kane and Conor McPherson. In 2004, they have supported Ayub Khan Din's third play, Notes on Falling Leaves;
Country Music by Simon Stephens and Lucky Dog by Leo Butler.
Stephen Daldry (b.1961) has been working as a director/producer in the theatre for the past twenty years. He was
Artistic Director of the Royal Court Theatre from 1992-98, where he headed the £26 million re-development, and the
Gate Theatre from 1989-92 - both theatres won numerous awards under his directorship. Amongst the many
productions he has directed is the award-winning National Theatre production of An Inspector Calls in London,
Broadway and world-wide. Stephen has directed two films, Billy Elliott and The Hours. Both films were Oscar
nominated, including Best Director. Stephen is currently working on Billy Elliot - The Musical with Elton John writing
the music and Lee Hall the book and lyrics for Working Title and Old Vic Productions.
Katie Mitchell (b. 1964) is Associate Director of the Royal Court, the Royal National Theatre and Paines Plough. She
has also directed numerous productions for the Royal Shakespeare Company, including The Phoenician Women
(1996) for which she won the Evening Standard Award for Best Director. For the Royal National Theatre her work
includes Rutherford and Son and Three Sisters. Katie has also directed plays at the Donmar Warehouse, the Young
Vic and worked with Welsh National Opera as well as directing many acclaimed productions for the Royal Court. Her
acclaimed production of Iphigineia at the RNT ended last night (7 September 2004), and forthcoming productions
include a Beckett project in Stockholm and a new play by Kevin Elyot at the Royal Court.
Ian Rickson (b.1963) took over from Stephen Daldry as Artistic Director of the Royal Court in 1998 and is the current
Artistic Director. Prior to that he had been Special Projects Director of the Royal Court's Young People's Theatre
(1991-94) and Associate Director (1994-8). For the Royal Court his productions include The Sweetest Swing in
Baseball, Boy Gets Girl and The Weir. His other theatre includes The Day I Stood Still (Royal National Theatre) and
The House of Yes (The Gate, London). Ian works closely with the Jerwood Charity on the Jerwood New Playwrights,
selecting up to five plays a year which, in his opinion, show talent and potential in the first ten years of the
playwright's career.
Artist Justin Mortimer (b.1970) studied at the Slade School of Fine Art. He won the BP Portrait Award at the National
Portrait Gallery in 1991 and was subsequently commissioned by the Gallery to paint Harold Pinter for the Collection.
Since then he has undertaken a number of high profile commissions including portraits of HM The Queen, Sir Steve
Redgrave and David Bowie. He has recently won the 2004 Eastaward in EastInternational, an annual international
open exhibition at Norwich Gallery
Sandy Nairne, Director of the National Portrait Gallery, said: "Justin Mortimer's wonderful, complex painting of
three great British theatre directors adds another important group portrait to our contemporary collection and we are
grateful to the Jerwood Charity for making this commission possible."
Roanne Dods, Director, the Jerwood Charity, said : "Jerwood has had a long and rewarding relationship with the
Royal Court, and Justin Mortimer's radical and engaging portrait captures the special and unconventional qualities of
these extraordinarily talented directors. We are thrilled to have been able to support this work in collaboration with the
National Portrait Gallery."
Notes to Editors
Three Royal Court Directors is painted in oil on canvas and measures 1830x2134mm
The Jerwood Charity is dedicated to responsible and imaginative funding of the visual and performing arts and other
areas of human endeavour and excellence. It supports, among other things, the Jerwood Commissions at the
Wapping Project, the Jerwood Drawing Prize, the Jerwood Sculpture Prize, the Jerwood Young Directors at the
Young Vic and the Jerwood Choreography Awards.
The first Jerwood Portrait Commission at the National Portrait Gallery was composer Thomas Adès by Phil Hale.
The BP Portrait Award is a highly successful annual event at the National Portrait Gallery, aimed at encouraging
young artists to focus upon the theme of portraiture within their work.
National Portrait Gallery opening hours
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Saturday, Sunday: 10am - 6pm (Gallery closure commences at 5.50pm)
Late Opening: Thursday, Friday: 10am - 9pm(Gallery closure commences at 8.50pm)
Recorded information: 020 7312 2463
General information : 020 7306 0055
Website: www.npg.org.uk
For further press information please contact:
Hazel Sutherland, Press Officer, National Portrait Gallery
Tel 020 7312 2452 (not for publication) Email [email protected]
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