They’ve painted billionaires, royalty, celebrities: portrait artists on the value of their craft in these Instagram times

From Rembrandt to Picasso, a talented portrait artist has always been prized for their ability to see into the soul of a person and capture it on canvas forever

With photography so ubiquitous nowadays and social media full of self-edited images, artists talk of an ignited desire for something more ‘real’

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Portrait of Indian billionaire Sunil Mittal by Fanny Rush. Photo: Courtesy of the artist

Published: 2:45pm, 28 Dec 2020Updated: 2:49pm, 28 Dec 2020

Hong Kong entrepreneur Frank Tang and his wife Cherry were planning celebrations for their 20th wedding anniversary when a colleague of Frank’s presented them with a surprising and unusual gift. Frank’s long-time friend and business partner, Terry Hu, had arranged for the couple to have their portrait painted.

Hu had contacted Fanny Rush, a London-based portrait artist, to paint the couple as a fitting way to mark their anniversary. The resulting portrait shows the couple, shoes off, relaxed and at ease, cosied up together on a sofa, as if it were a Friday after work and they were catching up on the week. The portrait completely captured their relationship, Cherry says.

“We were super delighted to see the finished work,” she says. “We were really grateful to Fanny for her impeccable skills, amazing artistic sense and wholehearted devotion to capturing the love between me and my husband.”

Hung with pride on their kitchen wall, the oil painting measuring 42 x 55 inches (107cm x 140cm) was launched at a party Frank and Cherry hosted for family and friends at their home in Stanley, on the south side of Hong Kong Island, in September.

Portrait of Frank Tang and his wife Cherry by Fanny Rush. Photo: Courtesy of the artist

“They are a lovely couple and I made their portrait very relaxed and romantic, so it is very personal to them,” Rush says over the phone from London. “Their home has some of the most beautiful art I have ever seen in a private home; their taste is excellent. I am pleased that my portrait of them hangs where everyone can see it.”