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A previously privately-owned portrait study of beloved Lady Diana, Princess of Wales, sold at a Sotheby’s auction for $201,600 in January to British art dealers, Philip Mould & Company. It is finally being seen by the public, on display at the Masterpiece London Art Fair, from June 30 July 6.
The portrait was previously on the wall at Kensington Palace and later at Diana’s family home in Althorp, approximately 90 miles northwest of London.
The oil portrait is a study, one of several done in preparation for a full length painting. Diana did several sittings for the portrait in the early 1990’s, during a tumultuous time in her life, after her separation from Prince Charles, a few years before her death in a car accident in Paris in1997. She became friends with the artist, Nelson Shanks and his wife, Leona, and later said in a letter that, “coming to the studio was a safe haven, so full of love and support.”
Shanks, an American portrait painter, passed away in 2015. He is remembered for his portraits of Diana, as well as US President Ronald Reagan, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, opera singer Luciano Pavarotti and Pope John Paul II. His portrait of US President Bill Clinton is shown at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC.
In the portrait sketch, Diana is wearing a dress that she wore in photographs shown in the June 1997 issue of the magazine Vanity Fair. It is a green velvet halter dress designed by Catherine Walker.
Speaking of the portrait, the owner, Philip Mould said in a Masterpiece video: “Partly by accident, I think this is one of the most significant royal portraits done in the twentieth century.”
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