Nicky Philipps
All creative people need a Fine Art Commissions. Not just for marketing and sourcing work, but for valuable second opinions when needed.
Nicky Philipps
All creative people need a Fine Art Commissions. Not just for marketing and sourcing work, but for valuable second opinions when needed.
Nicky Philipps
Prince William, Duke of Cambridge; Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex
2009
oil on canvas
54⅛ x 58⅛ in, 137.4 x 147.5 cm
© National Portrait Gallery, London
Kelsey Grammer as Miguel de Cervantes in 'Man of La Mancha'
2019
oil on canvas
89¾ x 53¾ in, 228 x 136.5 cm
Watch Nicky Philipps on BBC’s Fake or Fortune – with Fiona Bruce, Philip Mould, and Bendor Grosvenor
Nicky Philipps grew up within an artistic family. Her mother has exhibited her still lifes and flower paintings numerous times in galleries in Mayfair and St James’s, her sister was an accomplished water-colourist and her father was also a "good amateur" artist. With this creative background and the influence of the Graham Sutherland Gallery, which was then located at her family home in Pembrokeshire, it was perhaps inevitable that Nicky would become such a prolific artist.
After leaving school, she trained at the City & Guilds of London Art School for two years before moving to the Cecil-Graves Studio in Florence, where she learnt the importance of the sight size method, before she returned to London in the late 1980s, as the call of the collection of The National Gallery and the Tate were too strong. It was back in the UK in the early 1990s where she commenced her immensely successful career as a portraitist.
Inspired by the great portrait artists of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, primarily Sir John Lavery, Sir Oswald Birley, Philip de László, Sir William Orpen and John Singer Sargent, Philipps soon decided that she wanted to create a truth in her work as well as producing portraits that would bring a sense of joy to those who saw them and a strong sense of likeness by those who sit for them.
Her varied commissions have included a conversation piece depicting the novelist Ken Follett surrounded by characters from his novels; two ex-Governors of the Bank of England; and in 2010 her double portrait of TRH Princes William and Harry was unveiled to great acclaim at the National Portrait Gallery, London.
In 2013 Nicky was approached by Royal Mail to paint a portrait of HM Queen Elizabeth II for the first-class stamp series celebrating the 60th anniversary of her Coronation, the first time Royal Mail had commissioned a painting. The full-length portrait depicts HM The Queen in her robes of the Order of the Garter, surrounded by her four dogs. It was at Buckingham Palace during one of her sittings that the idea of including the corgis was born. The painting, gifted by Royal Mail, has been accepted by The Queen and is now on display as part of the Royal Collection in the Throne Room at Buckingham Palace.
In March 2014 Nicky’s portrait of Falklands hero Simon Weston OBE was unveiled at the National Portrait Gallery, London. The portrait was commissioned by the NPG and the BBC for their joint project the ‘People’s Portrait’, which gave the public the chance to vote for the person they believed most deserving of a portrait hanging in the NPG. The BBC documented the portrait from the initial meeting of Nicky and Simon, through each ‘sitting’, to the unveiling of the portrait at the NPG by presenters Fiona Bruce and Dan Snow. The one-hour programme was featured on BBC 1 on Sunday 13th April.
Between her portrait commissions, Nicky has had many successful Still Life and Landscape exhibitions. All 70 paintings were sold during the first week of her solo exhibition in Cork Street, and again at her 2015 exhibition at Fine Art Commissions. Her paintings can be found in public and private collections worldwide.
There is a dignity to the full-length portrait that Philipps has produced, and it shows her enjoyment in her portrayal of the robes, and her desire to make things sparkle.
Karen Wright, Art Critic, The Independent
Philipps paints close likenesses of William and Harry, a style common to contemporary portraitists owing something to celebrated figures of the past like John Singer Sargent.
Ben Luke, Art Critic, The Evening Standard
Nicky Philipps is an accomplished painter. She works with fluent skill, her effects apparently unforced. ..This is an intimate composition that puts the Princes at our level, inviting the spectator to become almost a third person in the small conversational group.
Rachel Campbell-Johnston, The Daily Telegraph
This is actually a contemporary history painting that alludes in a dignified way to the most important fact about Britain now, that people are dying in uniform. Just as Manet made the style of Velazquez an image of the new, so Nicky Philipps finds poses for our strange time in old paintings. There is a keenness and a style to this portrait without the swagger.
Jonathan Jones, Art Critic, The Guardian
| 2020 | Solo: The summer show, Fine Art Commissions, London, UK |
| 2020 | Group: Open Art Fair, Chelsea, London, UK |
| 2020 | Group: Stage & Screen, Fine Art Commissions, London, UK |
| 2019 | Group: Summer Portraiture Exhibition, Fine Art Commissions, London, UK |
| 2017 | Solo: Fine Art Commissions, London, UK |
| 2015 | Solo: Fine Art Commissions, London, UK |
| 2015 | Group: Contemporary Masters, Fine Art Commissions, London, UK |
| 2013 | Solo: Fine Art Commissions, London, UK |
| 1999–2007 & 2011 |
Group: artLondon, London, UK |
| 2008 | Group: Arndean Gallery, London, UK |
| 2008 | Solo: Palm Beach Art Fair, Florida, USA |
| 2007 | Solo: Arndean Gallery, London, UK |
| 2005 | Group: BP Portrait Awards, National Portrait Gallery, London, UK |
| 2005 | Group: The Garrick Milne Exhibition, Christies, London, UK |
| 2003 | Group: Family Exhibition, Arndean Gallery, London, UK |
| 2001, 2002 | Group: FAC Annual Portrait Exhibition, London, UK |
| 2001 | Solo: Arndean Gallery, London, UK |
| 2000 – 2004 | Group: Olympia Fine Art and Antiques Fair, London, UK |
Please click here to view the current works for sale by Nicky
If you would like to commission Nicky or would like to be sent a Portfolio of her Recent Commissions along with a Price List please e-mail sam@fineartcommissions.com or call the Gallery on 020 7839 2792
Nicky is also available for lessons, painting demonstrations and events, for prices and availability please use the above contact information.
Nicky was delighted to be sent this image of her portrait of TRH’s Princes William and Harry featured on a motorway bridge near Melbourne. She was particularly thrilled as her grandmother, Rose Osborne, was born and brought up at Currandooley near Bungendore, New South Wales. Nicky spent nine happy months with her Australian cousins in 1985. Artistically she was inspired by Arthur Streeton and Tom Roberts.