Art with soul
Meet award-winning artist Bruce atherton, painter for the Vatican, who is now selling on the new online runway gallery
Artist Bruce atherton communicates his thoughts visually across painting, sculpture and photography. he feels it takes guts to expose your innermost thoughts creatively and says there’s a little piece of his soul in every artwork he makes.
TELL US ABOUT YOUR BACKGROUND IN ART…
at the age of three, i would draw fanatically, encouraged by my mother and father. she was a midwife and he was a consultant surgeon. coming from a non-arty family meant there was a freedom, with no expectations placed upon me.
i went to art school but in the late 80s it was all super abstract expressionism, and i loved the old masters. i left art school and by my mid-20s, i was an advertising art director who needed to find his inner michaelangelo. so i handed in my notice, went to italy and studied at an advanced life painting school. i also taught and did portrait commissions. a one-man show at the cannaviello gallery in milan led to more international exhibitions.
YOU HAVE UNDERTAKEN COMMISSIONS FOR THE VATICAN, HOW DID THAT COME ABOUT?
in 2000, i was recommended to the Vatican by an italian health minister whose portrait i had painted. it was an honour to work for the Vatican, not least bcause i’m neither catholic nor italian. i made 13 paintings of newly canonised saints and official portraits, plus i’ve been lucky enough to enjoy tea with two popes!
WHAT INSPIRES YOU?
Beauty and the search for perfection and truth.
ANY ADVICE FOR PEOPLE WHO WANT TO BUY ART FOR THEIR HOME?
choose a piece you love that’s true to your taste.