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Painting an Actor
John Bell at home by Loribelle Spirovski. Oil on canvas. Archibald Prize finalist.
Loribelle Spirovski met distinguished actor and director John Bell earlier this year when he and her partner, classical pianist Simon Tedeschi, were performing Enoch Arden (Tennyson's epic poem set to music by Richard Strauss).
It should come as no surprise that painting a man such as John Bell was a daunting experience. He's renowned for his work with Bell Shakespeare (the company he founded the year I was born) and I was immediately drawn to that powerful, chiselled face with its deep-set features and inscrutable personality.
When he sat on his antique chair in the home he shares with his wife and fellow actor Anna Volska, he occupied the space with a contented regality and it was clear that any costume or prop would be superfluous, says Spirovski.
Spirovski opted for a minimal background to draw the viewer to that intense gaze, while the flesh colours are heightened by the distinctive gleam of the Australian sun.
Archibald Prize Exhibition, Art Gallery NSW, Sydney, Australia (Monday 31 July 2017)
Painting an Actor
John Bell at home by Loribelle Spirovski. Oil on canvas. Archibald Prize finalist.
Loribelle Spirovski met distinguished actor and director John Bell earlier this year when he and her partner, classical pianist Simon Tedeschi, were performing Enoch Arden (Tennyson's epic poem set to music by Richard Strauss).
It should come as no surprise that painting a man such as John Bell was a daunting experience. He's renowned for his work with Bell Shakespeare (the company he founded the year I was born) and I was immediately drawn to that powerful, chiselled face with its deep-set features and inscrutable personality.
When he sat on his antique chair in the home he shares with his wife and fellow actor Anna Volska, he occupied the space with a contented regality and it was clear that any costume or prop would be superfluous, says Spirovski.
Spirovski opted for a minimal background to draw the viewer to that intense gaze, while the flesh colours are heightened by the distinctive gleam of the Australian sun.
Archibald Prize Exhibition, Art Gallery NSW, Sydney, Australia (Monday 31 July 2017)