The portrait of the Queen by Nick Cuthell, commissioned by the New Zealand Portrait Gallery, is a competent piece. It is also a deliberately modern painting. This is no swagger portrait of a monarch resplendent in robes and sovereign over an Empire. It is a quiet portrayal of a dignified lady. Its only audacity is the dominant plain blue shape of the dress done in the manner of Whistler who would have called it A Symphony in Blue.
This colour is set off not only by the diamond necklace and fern but also by the crown, not of gold and jewels, but of stylishly coiffured white hair. The artist has captured the direct gaze and the firm set of the mouth and has not hesitated to emphasise a very modern shade of lipstick. The background is not particularised which may be a missed opportunity. The only Buckingham Palace note is the antique chair on which the Queen's right hand rests. It is not a throne but it suggests one. The chair gives stability to the composition against the tall blue shape and grounds the forms solidly. One quibble might be the size of the hand awkwardly draped over the chair.
This is a portrait for our times and New Zealand's independent status. It is a solid work, admiring without being obsequious.
