Emma Wesley was commissioned create a portrait drawing of
Anthony Bowen in his role as past President of Jesus College, Cambridge. Emma writes
‘Anthony teaches Greek and Latin and also held the role of University Orator from 1993-2007. When honorary degrees are given, the Orator makes a speech in Latin, marking the achievements of the person thus honoured. A book of his selected orations includes speeches praising eminent figures in a variety of fields, including Nelson Mandela in Politics, Dame Miriam Rothschild in the Sciences and David Hockney in the Arts.
Discussing the difficulty of creating a true portrait of a person in a relatively short speech, Anthony quoted a former Orator, W.K.C Guthrie, who described it as ‘a kind of gem-cutting in words, a complete picture, not lacking in detail, within the bezel of a ring.’ I may have been working on a slightly larger scale, but the terms of the commission meant I was limited in size to a small head study and, in materials, to pencil on paper. How to describe such a man with such small means?
Over the course of two days sitting in the front room of his house in New Square, Anthony talked of his life, his studies and travels, and taught me more about Greek Tragedy than I had learnt at Cambridge the first time round (I studied it there as part of my degree in English literature some years ago…) When the evening drew in early, putting an end to drawing for the day, he recited Tennyson to me.
I hope I have given, if not a ‘complete picture,’ at least a glimpse of this kind, charming and intelligent man in my sketch. His own verdict, when he saw the finished drawing was: ‘A little thoughtful, but yes, that’s me.’
Emma Wesley with her portrait of Professor Andrew Carr
Emma graduated from Selwyn College, Cambridge with an MA in English Literature before studying for a Postgraduate Diploma in the Conservations of Easel Paintings at the Courtauld Institute of Art, London.
She has work in many private and public collections, including the National Portrait Gallery, London.
She undertakes commissions from a small head study or a portrait drawing to a large group portrait, and is particularly interested in painting people in their working environment, surrounded by the tools of their trade.
Emma has work in many private and public collections, and has recently undertaken commissions for, amongst others, the National Portrait Gallery, the Inner Temple, All Souls College, Oxford, Christ’s College, Cambridge, the University of East Anglia and the Nuffield Hospital, Oxford.
