Jeremy King
The Independent; Portrait of Jeremy King Esq
oil on canvas
182.2 x 90.8 cm
1987-88
private collection
Jeremy King
pencil
61 x 30.5 cm
1987
National Portrait Gallery
Jeremy King
pencil and wash
37.6 x 24.1 cm
1987
National Portrait Gallery
This is an extract from a longer account in Tom Phillips's words in The Portrait Works (1989), p. 55-58
Jeremy King's is the longest portrait I have done, in both senses. He is a tall man and my initial plan to paint a life-size standing figure had to be abandoned because such a canvas, given some air around him, would have been unmanoeuvrable in my studio: even with him seated a surprisingly tall picture results. The picture also took an extraordinarily long time (Autumn '86 to Autumn '88). I do not usually keep an accurate count of sittings, but, since on this occasion I took a polaroid photo after each visit, I know there were at least fifty-five sittings not including the half dozen or so in which I made the preliminary drawings and an initial oil study.