Peter Edwards (artist) explained

Peter Edwards, (born 20 November 1955), is a British painter. He won the 1994 BP Portrait Award.

Early career

In 1980 he exhibited a small self-portrait in the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition. The painting was bought by the art collector, Sir Brinsley Ford.^[1] In 1986 his portrait of The Liverpool Poets was purchased by the National Portrait Gallery. His continuing involvement with the gallery and Robin Gibson^[2] then 20th Century Curator (later Chief Curator) led to a major one-man exhibition and tour in the Gallery in April 1990 "Contemporary Poets", which consisted of 17 large canvasses of 20 poets, alongside a poem from each poet, numerous studies, and a series of Saturday morning readings from Seamus Heaney, Douglas Dunn, Charles Causley, Wendy Cope, and Craig Raine.^[3]

On 30 July 1991, Bobby Moore unveiled Edwards' portrait of Bobby Charlton^[4] in the National Portrait Gallery, Sponsored by British Gas plc, it marked the 25th anniversary of England winning the FIFA World Cup.^[5] He later painted Ryan Giggs for the National Library of Wales.

In 1993 he exhibited in The Portrait Now show. In 1994 he won the BP Portrait Award^[6] with Portrait of an Artist's Model (of Marguerite Kelsey).^[7] She had been the model of choice, in the inter-war years, for many leading artists, including Meredith Frampton.^[8] This award led to his commission to paint Kazuo Ishiguro, which was unveiled the following summer in the National Portrait Gallery by Ismail Merchant.

Public collections

• National Portrait Gallery, London. 6 works.^[9] The portraits are of: Adrian Henri, Roger McGough, Brian Patten, (triple portrait known as) The Liverpool Poets. Seamus Heaney, John Heath-Stubbs, Willy Russell, Sir Bobby Charlton, and Kazuo Ishiguro.
• The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York^[10] of the British Poet Peter Reading, and Armenian poet Vahé Oshagan.
• National Museum Wales, painting of Tyrone O'Sullivan.^[11]
• Ulster Museum, Belfast,^[12] painting of Michael Longley.
• National Library of Wales, 6 works
• St Andrews University, portrait of Principal Struther Arnott^[13]
• Birmingham University^[14]
• Warwick University, painting of Sir Christopher Zeeman^[15]
• Ferens Gallery, Hull^[16]
• National Museums Liverpool portrait of Willy Russell
• Williamson Art Gallery, Birkenhead
• Moma Wales, Sir Kyffyn Williams,^[17] Ruth Lambert^[18]
• St George's Hospital, London
• Sheffield University^[19] Portraits of Sir Peter Middleton and Sir Harry Kroto
• Manchester University portraits of Sir Martin Harris and Alan Gilbert
• University of Gloucestershire portraits of Craig Raine, Kit Wright, Maud Sulter and Vuyelwa Carlin

Bibliography

• The National Portrait Gallery Collection, 1988. Page 203 colour illustration The Liverpool Poets Oil on canvass, 175.9 x 237.5 By Peter Edwards, 1985 (5853)
• Contemporary Poets, Portraits By Peter Edwards, A National portrait Gallery Exhibition, 1990. "Foreword" by Robin Gibson Curator 20th Century Collection. . view
• The Portrait Now, National Portrait Gallery, 1993. Page 52.
• drawings paintings and sculptures, the catalogue. Published by the museums and galleries of Northern Ireland. . Page 247 Portrait of Michael Longley b.1939 (1989–1990) U4825
• Royal Academy Illustrated 1996, A Souvenir of the 228th Summer Exhibition. Page 10, Peter Edwards Self Portrait Oil 7 × 5 ins.

External links

• • National Portrait Gallery – Peter Edwards
• Artist's website.
• The works of Peter Edwards on Art UK
• National Museum Wales
• Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
• Edwards as sitter in The National Portrait Gallery
• Adrian Henri website

Notes and References

1. News: Obituary: Sir Brinsley Ford . https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220525/https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/obituary-sir-brinsley-ford-1092134.html . 25 May 2022 . subscription . live . London . The Independent . George . Ireland . 8 May 1999.
2. News: Charles Saumarez Smith . Robin Gibson obituary | Art and design . The Guardian . 16 August 2010. 18 January 2011 . London.
3. Web site: National Portrait Gallery Archive Catalogue . Archivecatalogue.npg.org.uk . 24 June 1990 . 20 August 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140201185814/http://archivecatalogue.npg.org.uk/Public/dserve.exe?dsqIni=Dserve.ini&dsqApp=Archive&dsqDb=Catalog&dsqCmd=show.tcl&dsqSearch=%28RefNo%3D%3D%22NPG32%2F187%22%29 . 1 February 2014 . dead .
4. News: THE SITTER'S TALE: Sir Bobby Charlton . https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220525/https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/the-sitters-tale-sir-bobby-charlton-1118666.html . 25 May 2022 . subscription . live . London . The Independent . Andrew . MacPherson . 12 September 1999.
5. Web site: National Portrait Gallery – Portrait – NPG 6140; Sir Robert ('Bobby') Charlton . Npg.org.uk . 18 January 2011.
6. Web site: National Portrait Gallery – Portrait – NPG 6332; Kazuo Ishiguro . Npg.org.uk . 18 January 2011.
7. News: OBITUARIES Marguerite Kelsey . https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220525/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituaries-marguerite-kelsey-1610613.html . 25 May 2022 . subscription . live . London . The Independent . Richard . Ormond . 10 March 1995.
8. Web site: Website undergoing maintenance . Tate Etc. . 20 August 2014.
9. Web site: National Portrait Gallery – Person – Peter Edwards . Npg.org.uk . 18 January 2011.
10. Web site: Work in Regress | The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York . Metmuseum.org . 18 January 2011.
11. Web site: Art Collections Online | National Museum Wales . Museumwales.ac.uk . 18 January 2011.
12. Web site: National Museums Northern Ireland . Nmni.com . 18 January 2011.
13. Web site: Portrait of Principal Struther Arnott (1934–) . Scran . 5 January 1998 . 18 January 2011.
14. Web site: History of the Collections . Rcc.bham.ac.uk . 18 January 2011.
15. Web site: University of Warwick Art Collection – Artists – Peter Edwards . .warwick.ac.uk . 11 February 2009 . 18 January 2011.
16. Web site: Portrait of Douglas Dunn – Hull Museums Collections . Government of the United Kingdom . 18 January 2011.
17. Web site: Edwards, Peter " Moma Wales . Momawales.org.uk . 20 August 2014.
18. Web site: Edwards, Peter " Moma Wales . Momawales.org.uk . 20 August 2014.
19. Web site: University of Sheffield . Can't find the page you're looking for? . 2 January 2013 . 20 August 2014.