The Royal Society of Portait Painter's Portait Commission Service
Founded in 1891, The Royal Society of Portrait Painters is one of the world’s most renowned and exclusive portrait commissioning services. Its royal connections go far beyond the patronage of King Charles III, with its members being the portrait artists of choice for the Royal Family’s public and private commissions and its headquarters at Mall Galleries in London, ‘a stone’s throw’ from Buckingham Palace. Those in the art world and those ‘in the know’ have long been aware that customers worldwide have the same access to this society and its second to none portrait painters through the Royal Society of Portrait Painter’s Portrait Commission service: https://www.mallgalleries.org.uk/art-consultancy/portrait-commissions.
But, being painted by a leading portraiture artist who may have immortalised some of the most celebrated and well-known members of western society is just one of the benefits of using the service. Commissioning a portrait offers a unique opportunity to freeze-frame precious memories, tell a personal story or immortalise loved family members – not to mention taking the client on a truly extraordinary and intrinsically personal Fine Art journey; “When someone commissions a portrait, they become in a very real sense a sponsor, a patron of the arts,’ Anthony Connolly, President of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters.
Commissioning a portrait involves an exclusive, art world journey which is totally individual for each sitter and artist. Sitters become an integral part in the creation of a work of art and get a glimpse into the hidden, private world of the artist and their unique process. Every portraiture artist works completely differently so sitters will have their own, unrepeatable experience.
Martina Merelli said; “There can be a perception that portrait commissions have a certain formula. That artists will spend a long time with their sitters before starting a work, or that they will work collaboratively with their clients. The reality is that every artist’s practice is completely their own. What is consistent for all commissions though, is accessing a window into the artistic process. Whether that’s sitting in an artists’ studio filled with paintings and the smell of oil paints, or watching the work unfold before your very eyes, the journey will be incredibly special.
“Being part of the journey also means you have played your part in something greater than yourself. You have, for a moment in time, become interwoven with the art world as a whole. You have worked with a leading portraiture artist of your day and are now part of a body of work which is timeless – which will last way beyond you and the artist.”