Lucille Smithson Art
My name is Lucille Smithson, and I am a South African born British figurative realist oil painter. My work has been exhibited in London and Los Angeles and published in the UK. I also take photographs, write about art, and interview other artists about their process. I currently live in Los Angeles with my family, which includes five animals.
I predominantly undertake portrait commissions and also paint biographical portraits of people, animals, and scenes in my life.
I like to think of myself as a psychological painter and aim not just for a likeness, but a characterization of someone. So that even if you don’t know a person, you can look at their portrait and get a sense of who they are. This is perhaps the distinction between say a straightforward likeness in a painting and an attempt to communicate something of a person’s character.
Between 2020 and 2022, during the Covid-19 pandemic, I participated in Tom Croft's #portraitsfornhsheroes initiative and painted nurses and doctors in the United Kingdom, the USA, and South Africa. My intention was to give a face and a story to these front liners. Highlighting how they were working behind the scenes in unimaginably challenging circumstances and putting their lives at risk to help others. The paintings were presented as gifts for their invaluable frontline service. My work was featured on Sky News and mentioned in The Economist.
My painting, entitled Matthew and Sami (a married couple, both doctors in the UK), features in the Portraits for NHS Heroes book published by Bloomsbury, 2020.
Commissions
For commission enquiries please email via my contact tab and I will send you my price list and an outline of the process. I am also contactable via Instagram @Lucille Smithson Art.
Exhibitions
2024: The Society of Women Artists annual exhibition, Mall Galleries, UK
2024: Royal Society of Portrait Painters Annual Exhibition, Mall Galleries, UK
2024: The Ebell of Los Angeles 'A woman's place' exhibition, USA
2023: The Kline Academy of Fine Art annual exhibition, USA
2022: The Society of Women Artists annual exhibition, Mall Galleries, UK
Books
2021: Portraits for NHS Heroes by Tom Croft
Media
2024: Canvas Rebel Interview
2020: The Economist
2020: Sky News Portraits for NHS Heroes
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