Michael Landy RA, Norman, 2008.
Pencil on fabriano paper. 700 mm x 500 mm. © Royal Academy of Arts. © Photo: Royal Academy of Arts, London. Photographer: Prudence Cuming Associates Limited.
This image is released under Creative Commons CC-BY-NC-ND
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Norman, 2008
Michael Landy RA (b. 1963)
RA Collection: Art
A pencil portrait of Norman Rosenthal, Exhibitions Secretary at the Royal Academy of Arts from 1977 to 2008.
This is one of a series of forty-five drawn portraits made iby Michael Landy in 2008. The series was exhibited as a group at the Thomas Dane Gallery, London, and Paul Andriesse, Amsterdam, that year. According to the press release for the exhibition, Landy began by making portrait sketches of his immediate family 'as a means of reconnecting and spending time with them', each portrait taking 'at least two full days of sitting before the artist in extremely close proximity'. He later extended his range of sitters to include friends, fellow artists and leading figures in the contemporary art world as well as the landlady of his local pub.
In these minutely detailed pencil portraits, Landy 'challenged himself to replicate each detail with complete empirical detachment'. The portrait of Rosenthal and the others in the series are drawn without necks or shoulders so that the 'heads float ethereally on the page'.
Object details
700 mm x 500 mm
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