60 x 50 cm (23.6” x 19.7”) - Oil on Canvas

Framed

Framed size: 75 x 65 cm (29.5” x 25.6”)

I have loved James Guthrie’s unassuming portrait of an elderly man from Kirkcudbright since I first saw it in the Kelvingrove Art Gallery as a teenager. I finally got round to making this slightly oversized copy of it last year.

In this painting, Guthrie manages to do what very few other portrait painters ever manage - he goes beyond the specifics of his sitter, to make a universal statement about the human condition. Good portraiture makes you feel as though you’re in the presence of the living sitter. Truly great portraiture makes you feel as though you’re looking in a mirror, from which everyone who has ever lived is looking back at you. James Guthrie’s “Old Willie” is a great portrait.

I am very attached to this copy, and have priced it accordingly. If you want to get your hands on my Willie, I’m afraid you’ll have to pay for it.

Supplied with a signed certificate of authenticity