The art of success:
Dame Quentin Bryce, Crown Princess Mary, The Queen and now Prince Philip have all sat for Aussie artist Ralph Heimans. Here he talks to Juliet Rieden about what really goes on behind the canvases of his famous works.
Ralph Heimans on his royal portraits
There was never any doubt that Ralph Heimans would be a painter. He was raised on Sydney’s lower North Shore, the son of documentary filmmaker Frank Heimans, from whom he says he inherited “a very creative streak”, and the way he tells it, was practically born with a brush in his hand. “I’ve always painted, even at school,” says Ralph. “I was the class artist and from a very young age I knew this was what I would do. It’s part of who I am. It’s inseparable.”
What Ralph, now 48, couldn’t have imagined back then, was that his passion would take him inside Buckingham Palace, into the private corridors of Windsor Castle and the historic rooms of Fredensborg Palace in Denmark, to meet and paint the most famous subjects in the world. Ralph now lives in south London, with his wife and two daughters, a necessary relocation from Sydney in 2010, to enable him to fulfil a growing portfolio of high-profile commissions. “Being here in England has made it possible to paint a real variety of subjects,” Ralph explains.
Certainly the move has paid off, with his list of sitters – including Her Majesty The Queen, Dame Quentin Bryce, the Earl and Countess of Wessex and Crown Princess Mary, to name but a few – reading like a global who’s who. And late last year, a poignant and incredibly life-like work
of the Duke of Edinburgh was unveiled to widespread acclaim.
The secret to the Australian artist’s popularity as a recorder of notable figures at key moments in time – the 96-year-old Duke retired from public life soon after sitting for the painting and celebrated his 70th wedding anniversary just before its unveiling – is his unique approach. Ralph aims to capture not just the rigours of public office and historical context, but the person inside, perhaps even a glimpse into their soul.
“The storytelling is really only surface. What’s at the very core of these paintings is the emotional chord,” says Ralph, whose works not only have a sense of importance, but also intense scrutiny. “They’re meant to say something meaningful about the person as well – not their role, but how they think, how they feel. This is the interesting thing about royal portraiture – you’re painting very well-known public figures that
“Quentin Bryce was fantastic. She’s very open.”
people love and feel as though they know personally. The Queen and
The Duke are a part of our collective consciousness, but portraiture allows the viewer to identify with the subject. The emotional core is really the most important message.”
The painting of Philip was a commission from Denmark’s national portrait gallery. Prince Philip’s great-grandfather was the King of Denmark, and his mother the greatgranddaughter of Queen Victoria. “The Museum thought that it would be fascinating to explore some of those historical links between the royal houses,” says Ralph.
Of course, key to painting royalty is gaining access but this doesn’t seem to have been an issue for Ralph, who was the only artist chosen to paint an official portrait of The
Queen in her Diamond Jubilee year (which he set notably in Westminster Abbey, on the very spot she was coronated).
“Buckingham Palace approved the request to paint Prince Philip and very swiftly we made plans for a sitting. It all happened very quickly, which was very exciting,” says Ralph. “The setting in Windsor Castle really struck me from the beginning as a very important place personally for The Duke, because that’s more or less his home and he manages the estate and restored it after the fire, but also because I discovered that his mother and his grandmother were born in the room at the end of what’s known as the Grand Corridor. This is an area which is not accessible to the public. I asked for permission to see it and was completely blown away. There was a profound atmosphere. It was steeped in history and you could really feel that very, very strongly.”
As with The Queen, Ralph had just an hour during which he took lots of photographs on which to base his study. “It was a wonderful experience, very different from my sitting with The Queen. I think a lot of it had to do with what The Duke was wearing, compared with what The Queen was wearing. The Queen sat for me in her robes of state which requires multiple footmen and attendants and a dresser, so there was an entourage; but The Duke just walked into the room unannounced by himself. He was even a little early, so I was setting up with my assistants. I turned around and there he was. He said, “Which one’s the artist?” And then straight into it.
“I told him exactly how the portrait was conceived to give that particular air that he was turning momentarily, before continuing to walk down the corridor. It is difficult to do, but the Duke has an artistic sensibility. He has spent time painting and that was very helpful. What’s more, he has this amazing ability to put everyone at ease. There’s an air of fun. He has a sense of humour, he’s quick-witted and charming. He would find it uncomfortable if you were fluffing around trying to find words to use. He prefers you just speak to him frankly.”
I’m guessing since approval was instant, The Duke was happy with Ralph’s portrait of his wife, but apparently that’s a question never answered. “The Royal Family is unable to give opinions on art work, but I know The Duke has seen the portrait of The Queen,” he says nervously.
For his portrait of Crown Princess Mary there was more involvement with his subject. “It was in May 2005, and Crown Princess Mary was three months pregnant. There was some hesitation, is she going to sit, and it was decided that she should because she wasn’t showing so much,” recalls Ralph. “There was a very close collaboration with the Palace, a lot of discussion and sittings. The room in the painting is the garden room in Fredensborg Palace. It’s very grand, but I was able to play with the architecture somewhat. I turned one of the paintings on the back wall into a mirror to open up this new perspective where you can see Princess Mary from the back, and then on the back wall paintings which I adapted to be images of Constitution Dock in Hobart. So the mirror became a window into her former life; telling how she got there.”
This sort of symbolism is also used in his painting of Dame Quentin Bryce, who’s in suffragette purple walking through a glass door, representative of the glass ceiling she shattered becoming our first female GovernorGeneral. “She was fantastic and very open,” says Ralph. “She invited my family to Admiralty House – we developed a really good rapport.”
Being an outsider in rarefied, formal worlds works in his favour, Ralph says. “I think there’s an advantage being Australian because it gives you a fresh perspective and perhaps has played a role in my work.”
Ralph’s next project is an exhibition of works – including new works – to accompany the hanging of the painting of The Duke in Denmark. “There will be possibly 50 paintings, which will be very exciting.”
“Being Australian gives you a fresh perspective.”