Did the artist look at the King's portrait and say "hold my beer"

[MrsLeonFarrell]

Tatler has a new portrait, allegedly of the Princess of Wales, on its cover. I know it's been a while but I'm pretty sure most of us remember what she looks like.

Link to BBC article laced with sarcasm.

BBC News - Kate Tatler portrait prompts strong reaction online
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-69049830

You have a talent for high minded sounding rubbish, you'd make an excellent art critic 😆😆

According to the artist Hannah Uzor the subjects of her portraits are 'constructed from everything I can find about them'. In this case that looks like not very much!

It's probably true that Kate's 'behind-the-scenes' personality is really not known. So, the blank-faced generic cardboard cutout doll onto which people can project whatever truth they like might be a rather uncomfortable reference to this.

Does the artist like or approve of the royal family? I am left wondering about the spirit and intention behind the creation of the portrait.

I think she’s got a bit of the mouth right - to me if you scroll down to the picture of Kate there’s a resemblance there. The rest not so much!

That is bloody awful. Looks like a completely talentless amateur with delusions of talent has painted it.

It looks like one of those barbie dolls that are supposed to be famous people, you can sort of see who it is if you know who it's supposed to be

The artist quotes sounded like she was defending the fact she isn't that good at portraits!

Does the artist like or approve of the royal family? I am left wondering about the spirit and intention behind the creation of the portrait.

I think this was an example of woke-ism gone wrong or someone behind the scenes maliciously enjoyed setting up a female, POC artist for public humiliation. She was only given 3 weeks for the entire commission and her skill level is clearly nowhere close to that of Jonathan Yeo or Paul Emsley. Despite mixed opinions, the Emsley portrait of Kate in the National Gallery took 16 weeks to complete.

Hannah Uzor is best know for her portrait of Sara Forbes Bonetta, goddaughter of Queen Victoria which went on display at the Queen's former summer residence Osborne House. It's safe to assume she is pro RF but in a modern, self-aware and post BLM manner. So the perfect personality for the portrait, which is actually the third in a series by Tatler.

Also worth noting that she has only been producing work since 2020, is a mother of three and only graduated in 2023. She had another degree in Computer Studies somewhere along the way. So this is a largely self-taught artist which explains the visibly amateurish, GCSE-style of painting. She was presumably hired based on her Sara Forbes Bonetta portrait. That one is quite striking but she clearly had more time to complete it. Giving the monumental task of painting the future Queen within 3 weeks to an artist with a limited skillset is downright cruel.

The timing is also terrible considering the issues regarding Kate this year. It immediately leads people to wonder if she even gave the approval or had any contact with the artist. If the portrait had been stunning then it would have been ok, and maybe a perfect way to have Kate in public consciousness, without actually requiring a photo or appearance.

The timing is also terrible considering the issues regarding Kate this year. It immediately leads people to wonder if she even gave the approval or had any contact with the artist. If the portrait had been stunning then it would have been ok, and maybe a perfect way to have Kate in public consciousness, without actually requiring a photo or appearance.

A report in the Telegraph states that the portrait was commissioned by Tatler with no involvement from the princess or the palace

Tatler must really hate Kate,
they went all out in their June issue , with their Cotswold wives spread to promote Plum Sykes Book .
but for their higher sales period ,they asked a self taught painter to paint the cover of a woman god only knows what she’s going through at the moment?
I just don’t understand why did they do it , it seems insensitive.

Tatler have an uneasy relationship with the Royals. William and Kate were unhappy about an article called Catherine the Great which made some claims about Kate and her family which they were forced to retract in the end. There is definitely some bad blood there.

https://observer.com/2020/09/kate-middleton-tatler-profile-story-edited-kensington-palace/

Intersting theory! Tatler published a very negative article about Kate a few years ago, to the point they took legal action. https://observer.com/2020/09/kate-middleton-tatler-profile-story-edited-kensington-palace/

Maybe it was a petty act of revenge but extremely low to do that to a woman undergoing cancer treatment and has requested to stay out of the public eye this year. There must be some kind of back story to the initial article and the decision to release the portrait.

Hannah Uzor was thrown under a bus for this one as editors must have known the turnaround time was impossible. As a mother of three young kids, 3 weeks is absolutely no time to work. She probably painted the entire thing over a weekend while the kids were away with granny. Tatler knew it would turn out awful but took delight at the fact RF can't retaliate due to the fact they picked a POC artist best known for her work regarding African diaspora.

Just seen it and the painter said "really important to capture the soul of the person"; this painting has no soul at all!

I’m not a fan of either. The king one looks like he has a massive hand. I can’t unsee his claw now.

That's awful. Looks like a rushed piece of GCSE coursework. Blimey.

It does feel like a set up for the artist, but she also had the right to decline the commission.

The artist's reputation might be seen as collateral damage in a revenge strike by Tatler against the Palace.

It does scream whatever black artist is available is fine, there are so many talented South African and Zimbabwean Artists , the Art scene in South Africa is the most sought after at the moment , it seems no research was made at all , very clumsy.

Yes but I can't see anyone turning that down tbh

Yes this. The whole thing leaves a weird aftertaste because it smacks of a very powerful white institution (Tatler) giving a virtually unknown black artist an offer she can't refuse, but effectively using her as a pawn against another hugely powerful white institution (the Royal Family). She gets trussed up in golden ballgowns with an interview and photoshoot for Tatler however it's blatantly obvious that the core readership of Tatler will never take her as an artist seriously, aside from the token gesture to diversity and inclusion.

I genuinely cannot believe that they couldn't find another black artist in the UK that they could have commissioned. Hannah Uzor is a graduate artist and her body of work fairly sparse. It would be bonkers for any random graduate artist from UCL to be give a Tatler cover. They were simply too lazy to do research and settled for her because of the Sarah Bonetta portrait, or they knew she would do a bad job and wanted to deliberately antagonise Kate during her most vulnerable time.

I agree the only conclusion is that Tatler set this artist up to fail. Which is fucking disgraceful.
I urge everyone to check out her other work.

Hannah Uzor (@hannahuzor) • Instagram photos and videos

Did the artist look at the King's portrait and say "hold my beer"

What do you mean with this title? To me it means the King wants to punch the artists lights out. I don't see what it has to do with Kate's portrait 🤔

I genuinely cannot believe that they couldn't find another black artist in the UK that they could have commissioned.

Back when he was still Prince of Wales, the King commissioned a series of portraits of members of the Windrush Generation. I happened to catch a tv programme about an event where the King, as he was by then, viewed the portraits and met the artists and the subjects. The portraits are all in different styles, but they all have something to say, while preserving the dignity of the subject. Scroll down this page to see them all, and the names of the artists and subjects:

https://www.rct.uk/collection/exhibitions/windrush-portraits-of-a-pioneering-generation/royal-west-of-england-academy-bristol

I urge everyone to check out her other work.

Those are very different from this, and well worth looking at.

I liked her other art on the artist's site. However, Catherine is a more complex person than the Tatler portrait shows her to be. The artist clearly needed more time for the portrait since she was unable to show her subject's complexities.