Portraits of Crown Princess Mary

[Margrethe II]

I'm sorry you feel this way.

He may not be at a standard of the worlds great court artists who have since past (I doubt we shall ever see them again in our life times), but to deliberately degrade someone because you can, inseatd of putting forward your thoughts in a constructive manner does in actual fact speak volumes of you as a person.

"MII"

i agree it is an insult. I intended my comment be interpreted as such.

I'm you can agree with me that there are many artists (painters/sculptors/actors/singers) who are seriously overrated. In my opinion, mr. Shen is one of them.

I do acknowledge that the picture is a life like depiction of mary which is great.

but if you compare this painting to the works of Nelson Shanks (to name just one currently living portrait painter and not going into the legions of excellent deceased ones) it is a pedestrian effort.

 

[caroline mathilda]

I wish John Singer Sargent was alive to paint Mary and other contemporary royals. Now HE was a portrait artist!

Caroline Mathilda

 

[Lady Marmalade]

Mary is a beautiful woman, portrait or no portrait. Obviously we all have different tastes in art. But that is what is so wonderful, the ablilty for each one of us to interpret how we view it.

It is a very clean look with no fuss as past generations of royal portraits have been done in many royal families.

It has a modern approach, and while it captures her beauty effortlessly, it really did not take my breath away or make my jaw drop.

 

[Margrethe II]

Hey BeatrixFan,

Hope you are well.

If I am correct, the Crown Princess wore the blue to signify her ties with Australia, and what better way to do it than to be painted in the prominent colour of the Australian flag & have the Sydney Oprah House in the background (also a show of Danish/Australian ties). This is why I hope the Crown Princess wears the Canberra State dinner gown for the Danish portrait with Queen Desiree parure (And of course, red being the only colour in the Danish flag).

Personally, two other gowns I would very much like to see Her Royal Highness painted in are the Chocolate Lovers Ball gown (with bridal earings and wedding tiara) and the Hobart State dinner two piece ensemble.

Kind regards,

"MII"

 

[pollyemma]

I thought people would understand the "intended as an insult" line was facetious. I was just having some fun. Trying to use rhetorical flourish. Maybe I need to start adding more smileys or add a disclaimer that I don't mean anything to be rude like the one Carlota has.

It just occurred to me that the new painting of Mary looks exactly like the efforts of some of my friends who are young and have had very little artistic training. The painting is fine. But I don’t think it deserves the superlatives being heaped on it.

Perhaps I should have just written those words. I guess I have a tendency to exaggerate. Dorothea in "Middlemarch" once says “I have a hyperbolic tongue. It catches fire as it goes." Unfortunately, the same is often true of me.

If because of some obviously hyperbolic comments posted on this board, you've decided I’m a bad person...I think you need to put down you mouse and back away from your computer.

I'm sorry you feel this way.
He may not be at a standard of the worlds great court artists who have since past (I doubt we shall ever see them again in our life times), but to deliberately degrade someone because you can, inseatd of putting forward your thoughts in a constructive manner does in actual fact speak volumes of you as a person."MII"

 

[Australian]

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, what seems like a great work of art may seem not to be so to others. But i wouldnt go as far as saying its like a kindegartens work, give Mr Shen abit more credibility than that.

I personally love the painting.

 

[Harmony]

Agreed wholeheartedly. Mr Shen 's oil painting Mary MacKillop of Australia, 1994 won Mary MacKillop Art Award. He was invited to meet the Pope the day after the award ceremony. Pope John Paul II talked with Shen and gave him a medal on January 19, 1995.

 

[caroline mathilda]

I guess I have a tendency to exaggerate. Dorothea in "Middlemarch" once says “I have a hyperbolic tongue. It catches fire as it goes." Unfortunately, the same is often true of me. .

I think it is often true of all of us, Pollyemma. Probably we should all wear Scotch Guard Flame Retardant when posting on royal message boards these days.

Caroline Mathilda

 

[Aussie Princess]

Aussie Princess,

As a fellow Melbournian (I take it you are from Melbourne also), I have not heard when or if the painting shall be coming to Melbourne. As far as I knew it was staying in Canberra until it is due to be taken to Copenhagen next year.

"MII"

Thank you for that. I hope they do decide to bring it to Melbourne though. I thught I remember hearing somewhere it was going to stay in Australia? Mary is pretty popular so I thought they would have displayed it. A lot of Australians will want to see it!

 

[Margrethe II]

I thought people would understand the "intended as an insult" line was facetious. I was just having some fun. Trying to use rhetorical flourish. Maybe I need to start adding more smileys or add a disclaimer that I don't mean anything to be rude like the one Carlota has. ....

Thankyou pollyemma for clarrifying what you meant Now that I am better informed of what you were infact trying to convey, I dont think you are a bad person at all (I didnt think you were a bad person before either, just somewhat negative). To show this I shall delete my post in a sign of solidarity amongst fellow posters if you would like? Maybe working on word use and how you project (or in this case type) what your trying to put across would be something worth considering for future participation.

No harsh feelings from this end,

"MII"

Thank you for that. I hope they do decide to bring it to Melbourne though. I thught I remember hearing somewhere it was going to stay in Australia? Mary is pretty popular so I thought they would have displayed it. A lot of Australians will want to see it!

Hey Aussie Princess,

You are correct. After it does the rounds in Denmark next year, it shall be brought back to Australia where it shall hold up permanent residency in Canberra.

"MII"

 

[norwegianne]

Australian artist Ralph Heimans is currently working on a portrait of Mary, that will be permanently displayed in Denmark. (Billed-Bladet.)

http://www.ralphheimans.com/about.html

 

[Danielle]

I quite like the portrait of Mary. A lot of hard work has been put into its creation, and I think Jiawei Shen has done an excellent job of capturing the essence of Mary, while including one of our famous landmarks. Not an easy thing to do.

 

[trippc]

Australian artist Ralph Heimans is currently working on a portrait of Mary, that will be permanently displayed in Denmark. (Billed-Bladet.)

http://www.ralphheimans.com/about.html

Wow! I really like his work, can't wait to see his portrait of Mary

 

[ysbel]

Well since I am a third year art student, I hope I can come in here with an art students appreciation of the portrait.

I saw this portrait awhile back and I think the artist did a great job on Mary's head. It really is soft and the coloring is wonderful.

I thought the background detracted from her though. It doesn't look as skillfully painted as Mary herself. I wonder if the artist used an assistant for the background (this is pretty common)

A couple of things I noticed: the perspective in the floor tiles look off (the floor looks like its going uphill), the column is not well rendered, and its hard to tell what that curtain in the background is doing. I know they're not the focus of the picture but they command more attention by being badly painted than if they were as skillfully painted as Mary. If you separate Mary from the background, it looks like two different paintings. That's why I think an assistant did some help on the background.

The skillful rendering of Mary's head really saves the painting but I hope the next one is a more cohesive work of art.

 

[Lady Marmalade]

Well since I am a third year art student, I hope I can come in here with an art students appreciation of the portrait.

I saw this portrait awhile back and I think the artist did a great job on Mary's head. It really is soft and the coloring is wonderful.

I thought the background detracted from her though. It doesn't look as skillfully painted as Mary herself. I wonder if the artist used an assistant for the background (this is pretty common)

A couple of things I noticed: the perspective in the floor tiles look off (the floor looks like its going uphill), the column is not well rendered, and its hard to tell what that curtain in the background is doing. I know they're not the focus of the picture but they command more attention by being badly painted than if they were as skillfully painted as Mary. If you separate Mary from the background, it looks like two different paintings. That's why I think an assistant did some help on the background.

The skillful rendering of Mary's head really saves the painting but I hope the next one is a more cohesive work of art.

Now this is cool to have a professional give her opinion as well.

 

[soCal girl]

Well since I am a third year art student, I hope I can come in here with an art students appreciation of the portrait.

I saw this portrait awhile back and I think the artist did a great job on Mary's head. It really is soft and the coloring is wonderful.

I thought the background detracted from her though. It doesn't look as skillfully painted as Mary herself. I wonder if the artist used an assistant for the background (this is pretty common)

A couple of things I noticed: the perspective in the floor tiles look off (the floor looks like its going uphill), the column is not well rendered, and its hard to tell what that curtain in the background is doing. I know they're not the focus of the picture but they command more attention by being badly painted than if they were as skillfully painted as Mary. If you separate Mary from the background, it looks like two different paintings. That's why I think an assistant did some help on the background.

The skillful rendering of Mary's head really saves the painting but I hope the next one is a more cohesive work of art.

Thanks for sharing that with us ysbel. After your post I went back and looked at the portrait of Mary and it does look as if the tiles are sloping up. I like the painting and can't wait for one that has a full tiara "uniform." Now that we have a portrait of her standing, I wouldn't mind one of her sitting. But I think the standing portraits are more commanding and attention-grabbing most of the time.

 

[Margrethe II]

Thankyou ysbel for your educated opinion.

I am led to believe that the next portrait being commissioned by The Crown Princely Court for Her Royal Highness the Crown Princess is currently under production and is being painted by another Australian artist, Ralph Heimans who now resides in Paris. The Crown Princess is said to be not wearing any orders, and I strongly doubt any parure or the like either.

The style shall be different to that of Mr Shen. This artist is more agressive with his brush, or as Per Thornit put it, 'violent'.

I look forward to seeing the finished product, but do confess that I would have very much liked to have seen the Danish portrait define Mary's position as a Crown Princess with all the finery and jewels that are part of Her Royal Highness' image, and that of a future Queen Consort.

I am hopefull that these prayers shall be answered in the not to distant future. But until then....


"MII"

 

[caroline mathilda]

The style shall be different to that of Mr Shen. This artist is more agressive with his brush, or as Per Thornit put it, 'violent'.
"MII"

This discription of the artist's technique by Herr Thornit is a bit disconcerting to me.

For a brilliant rendition, I still think we should dig up John Singer Sargent ( it shouldn't be too hard as we ARE close to Halloween )

Caroline Mathilda

 

[Batatinha]

I thought people would understand the "intended as an insult" line was facetious. I was just having some fun. Trying to use rhetorical flourish. Maybe I need to start adding more smileys or add a disclaimer that I don't mean anything to be rude like the one Carlota has. (...)

If because of some obviously hyperbolic comments posted on this board, you've decided I’m a bad person...I think you need to put down you mouse and back away from your computer.

The portrait could be much better I had seen many street painters doing better.

Margarethh II, it's irrelevant what you think about the other member's opinions. If you don't like them, don't read it. The portrait is pretty but not spetacular.

 

[Regina]

Hey BeatrixFan,

Hope you are well.

If I am correct, the Crown Princess wore the blue to signify her ties with Australia, and what better way to do it than to be painted in the prominent colour of the Australian flag & have the Sydney Oprah House in the background (also a show of Danish/Australian ties). This is why I hope the Crown Princess wears the Canberra State dinner gown for the Danish portrait with Queen Desiree parure (And of course, red being the only colour in the Danish flag).

Very Interesting explanation Margrethe II, thanks.

 

[ysbel]

This discription of the artist's technique by Herr Thornit is a bit disconcerting to me.

For a brilliant rendition, I still think we should dig up John Singer Sargent ( it shouldn't be too hard as we ARE close to Halloween )

Caroline Mathilda

I think Sargent could be pretty violent with his brush! Look at El Jaleo!

 

[purple_platinum]

looks like Mary got some royal admirers for her portrait at the National Portrait Museum in Canberra, Australia



pictured here are King & Queen of Sweeden during their official visit to Australia today, november 7th.
(photos courtesy of getty & polfoto)

 

[Lady T]

Someone on one of the first pages mentions that Mary is an Australian citizen, in fact she is not. Mary had to give up her citizenship when she became a Danish citizen which was required for her to marry CP Fredrick.

As for the painting. Its was painted by an Australian and funded by an Australian (one of the galleries benefactors) so justly should stay in Australia. A few people have commented that it should perminently reside in Denmark and I think this would be an injustice to the wonderful woman who commissioned it.

 

[purple_platinum]

Portrait of man on train about to paint Princess Mary

IN a Paris studio, the final brushstrokes have been made on Princess Mary. Next week, she will embark on a hush hush journey to Denmark.
Not the princess herself, but Denmark's first official portrait of Mary, painted by Ralph Heimans, 35, an Australian artist who lives in Paris.
The Danish authorities have recently recruited Jeremy Mitchell, public affairs manager at the Australian high commission in London, to co-ordinate publicity for the event, to be held on April 7 at the Museum of National History, based in Frederiksborg Castle, near Copenhagen.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/arts/portrait-of-man-on-train-about-to-paint-princess-mary/2006/03/10/1141701688998.html

 

[Australian]

MARY HANGS WITH KYLIE

THE first official portrait of Denmark's Princess Mary will hang alongside paintings of other famous Aussies when it is unveiled at Frederiksborg Castle next month.

The portrait of the Australian-born princess, by Australian artist Ralph Heimans, will be part of an exhibition called Australian Visit, to be held at the Museum of National History at Frederiksborg north of Copenhagen.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,18573920%255E1702,00.html

 

[pollyemma]

where will the painting be housed at the end of this "Australian visit"exhibit?

 

[Australian]

where will the painting be housed at the end of this "Australian visit"exhibit?

Im guessing it will stay in the palace because its the first official portrait of the Crown Princess. Not sure.

 

[purple_platinum]

Princess Mary right up there
24mar06

THE first official portrait of Princess Mary will hang with paintings of other famous Aussies when it is unveiled at Frederiksborg Palace, Denmark next month.
The portrait, by Australian artist Ralph Heimans, will be part of an exhibition called Australian Visit at the Museum of National History

http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,18578833%255E663,00.html

 

[Margrethe II]

Realistically, its the second official portrait. The first being by Mr Shen.

For Denmark, it would be the first.


"MII"

 

[UserDane]

where will the painting be housed at the end of this "Australian visit"exhibit?

It may just stay at Frederiksborg Castle (which is a museum); this museum already has a number of recent portraits of the royal family, including a very interesting - very blue! - one of Prince Henrik.
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