Divine People: The Art of Ambrose McEvoy


Interesting exhibition at Philip Mould & Company looking at the work of the early 20th century society portrait painter, Ambrose McEvoy.

McEvoy was well known in his day, having been encouraged by Whistler and traveled to Dieppe to work with Sickert, but is largely forgotten now. He posed his subjects using cleverly arranged electric lights which gave the pictures a clear bright quality. The pictures now have an old fashioned look and subject but they have wonderful loose brush work.

The pictures on mass give a view of society in the early 20th century and, particularly the downstairs room, gave you a sense of being at a fabulous cocktail party. I loved the picture of Lady Diane Copper, shown here, which she entitled “Call to Orgy”! It was a nice touch to have the actual top worn in one of the portraits shown with the picture as it gave an idea of the artistic interpretation involved.

I was fascinated by the section on the archive material collected by McAvoy’s wife with day books and letters sent to him from many of his famous sitters.

Closes 24 January 2020

Review
Telegraph



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