How you can use this image
This image can be used for non-commercial research or private study purposes, and other UK exceptions to copyright permitted to users based in the United Kingdom under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised. Any other type of use will need to be cleared with the rights holder(s).
Review the copyright credit lines that are located underneath the image, as these indicate who manages the copyright (©) within the artwork, and the photographic rights within the image.
The collection that owns the artwork may have more information on their own website about permitted uses and image licensing options.
Review our guidance pages which explain how you can reuse images, how to credit an image and how to find images in the public domain or with a Creative Commons licence available.
Notes
Add or edit a note on this artwork that only you can see. You can find notes again by going to the ‘Notes’ section of your account.
Describing the process of painting the portrait, Furr says: 'I was conscious that this is a psychiatrist. I'm now in a position where the roles are reversed because, in a way, being a portrait artist is a very intimate thing. It's a unique position, almost like a father confessor, if in reference to the clergy. And it's two people that analyse people in different ways coming together, for different reasons, but both of them are about unravelling something, finding clues, and working things out, a positive goal for both. I remember looking at different viewpoints, because when you paint somebody, the eyeline is everything. In this case, I lowered my position, putting my elbow on the ground and being really low, and taking images from a low angle, and that's what the angle is here, and Robert was looking down at me as I was taking the pictures.
When I looked at all the images, I quite liked that quizzical expression. It’s good humoured, and it’s very accommodating. I think it was partly my phobias about being analysed myself. I was thinking at the time about the role of the patient and the role of the psychiatrist. I came to it feeling a bit like a patient. And I think that's reflected in the pose and the gaze and everything. I deliberately didn't put any highlights on his eyes. I wanted his eyes to be almost penetrating – like black balls – just looking into my soul. There's a slight reflection on that one. That was how I felt at the time: I was being stared into. It’s a very penetrating gaze. The gaze is very important in this painting.'
Royal College of Psychiatrists
London
Title
Dr Robert Kendell, President of the Royal College of Psychiatrists (1996–1999)
Date
2000
Medium
oil on canvas
Measurements
H 121 x W 59 cm
Accession number
PP009
Acquisition method
commissioned
Work type
Painting
Inscription description
signed
Royal College of Psychiatrists
21 Prescot Street, London, Greater London E1 8BB England
-
Lotte Therese Newman, CBE, President of the Royal College of General Practitioners (1994–1997) Royal College of General Practitioners -
Sir Donald Irvine Royal College of General Practitioners -
Robert W. Shaw, President of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (1998–2001) Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists -
Dr Robert Kendell, President of the Royal College of Psychiatrists (1996–1999) Royal College of Psychiatrists -
Professor Dame Lesley Southgate, DBE, President of the Royal College of General Practitioners (2000–2003) Royal College of General Practitioners -
Mitch Couriard Jersey Museum and Art Gallery -
Queen Elizabeth II by Christian Furr Jersey Museum and Art Gallery