Peculiar portrait commissions.

Peculiar portrait commissions.

After twenty-five years of commissioned portraits there are many anecdotes I can tell. I have had some peculiar portrait commissions.

I have met a lot of people. Occasionally there was something special about a job, like the two times I got an enquiry for a female nude painting. In the first one, the client was the model´s husband; the client making the other request was the model herself. She wanted to give the portrait as a present to her husband on the day of the wedding.  Continue reading “Peculiar portrait commissions.”

Art flows to where the money is

Art flows to where the money is

More than once people asked how a novice portraitist must decide his prices. I remember I once said: If you don’t have any orders you are either  too expensive, or you have too little quality.  If you have too many commissions, it may be that you are too cheap.

Art flows to where the money is. Portrait of Jan Six by Rembrandt
Portrait of Jan Six by Rembrandt

An interesting book that I am currently reading is “The lives of Jan Six”, written by the Dutch historian Geert Mak. I do not know if there is an English translation. Continue reading “Art flows to where the money is”