Bryan Organ is a British artist considered as one of the leading and most innovative English portrait painters of the 20th Century. His paintings have included portraits of prominent public figures and of members of the British royal family. Organ is also known for landscape paintings, such as ,, and lithographic studies of animals. London's National Portrait Gallery holds a total of 16 of his portraits of which 6 were commissioned by the Gallery's Trustees. Organ studied at Loughborough College of Art and the Royal Academy Schools before returning to teach at Loughborough College of Art. In 1967 Organ left the college and to continue painting as a full-time career. His first solo exhibition was at Leicester City Art Gallery when still a student. He has been represented by The Redfern Gallery since 1967 Organ lives and works in Leicestershire and London. He is a godfather to Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex.
Portraiture
Bryan Organ became interested in portraiture in the mid 1960s - a time when the medium was highly unfashionable and largely shunned by any young ambitious artist. For Organ portraiture was not a separate art: 'A portrait is a picture, presenting just the same problems as a still life or a landscape or an abstract. And this is true irrespective of who the sitter is. The solutions may be different, of course, but essentially the end product must be judged as a work of art' . In 1971 the National Portrait Gallery Director Roy Strong said: 'In his role as face-maker Bryan Organ emerges as one of the two or three painters of his generation to make any significant statement, let alone display any enthusiasm for the despised art of the portrait'. Organ's first portrait, painted in 1966, was of the journalist and satirist Malcolm Muggeridge. It was, in Organ's words, 'not commissioned, but done because I wanted to in January 1966. I spent a considerable amount of time with him, observing the way he moves and gestures and speaks. After all, to anyone who has seen Muggeridge on the TV, the image he conjures up is not static, it's in movement all the time. So I made lots of studies and from these made a distillation, retaining recognizable characteristics but eliminating inessentials... One is simplifying all the time. It's a lot easier to put everything in. The difficult part is seeing how much you can leave out.' . At this time Organ also painted the composer Michael Tippett. The portraits of and were both included in Organ's first exhibition at the Redfern Gallery which took place in March 1967. Whilst Bryan Organ is best known for his portraits of notable figures and of members of the Royal Family, he has also created a diverse body of work outside this subject. These include his lithographs of birds and animals such as 'Four Birds', 'Four Heads of Wild Cats', and 'Monarch of the Glen after Landseer'. Organ's landscapes in public collections include and as well as his reinterpretation of the classic John Everett Millais’ Ophelia
Notable portraits
Bryan Organ has painted significant portraits throughout his career, including the official portraits of the last 3 Chancellors of the University of Oxford. Organ was also the first artist outside of France to be commissioned to paint a French president. Famous public figures he has painted include Elton John and, more recently, Sir David Attenborough. The latter was unveiled by Attenborough at Leicester's New Walk Museum & Art Gallery, in which it hangs next to Organ's portrait of Sir David's brother, Sir Richard Attenborough His portrait of Prince Charles was commissioned by the Trustees of the National Portrait Gallery in 1980. This was the inaugural work in the Gallery's and is the first painted portrait of the Prince to enter the National Portrait Gallery. In 1980 Organ was commissioned by the National Portrait Gallery to paint Diana, Princess of Wales . Margaret herself praised the piece for accurately conveying her way of life.
