Friday, July 23, 2021

Frank Holmes' Portrait of A. Lee Sackett in the Style of Ingres

A. Lee Sackett by Frank Baker Holmes
Oil on panel, 22" x 19"
Frank Baker Holmes is a masterful painter who was awarded the Prix des Rome at the time he was my instructor (when I was a student in the College of Fine Arts) at Ohio University in 1973. I 've been following his career, albeit from a distance, ever since and have enjoyed each new veer. 

This summer I inquired as regards what he's been working on since I last visited his studio/home in 2019. He responded by sending this portrait of A. Lee Sackett in the style of Ingres.

For those unfamiliar, Jean-Augustine-Dominique Ingres was a French neoclassical painter of the early part of the 19th century. At the age of 22, he made his Salon debut in 1802. He was strongly influenced by past artistic traditions, just as Holmes is today.

The subject in Frank Holmes' portrait, A. Lee Sackett, had a long and distinguished career as an exhibit designer (among other things) with Parks Canada. 

As you can see from the portrait below, Holmes' painting is ‘related’ to Ingres portrait of Louis-Francois Bertin. Bertin was a French writer, art collector and director of the pro-royalist Journal des débats.

Portrait of Louis-Francois Bertin by Ingres

Another feature of this painting that interested me was that his life partner Jill Mackie is also a portrait painter.  In fact, I've privately dubbed her "the portrait painter of the family." This is not to suggest that Frank hasn't done his share of portraiture. 

Some of Jill Mackey's paintings have hung in the National Portrait Gallery in Washington DC. Here's an excerpt from a 2017 interview: "Portraiture appeals to me because of the simplicity and beauty and character of the human being. It never fails me that in drawing and painting a portrait, the person begins to glow from the soul as we work."

I think Frank has captured a little bit of that glow in his Ingres-style portrait of A. Lee Sackett.

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