The Newspaper

Sir William Russell Flint

P.R.A., P.R.W.S., R.S.W., R.O.I., R.E.

---

'The Newspaper'
Limited edition of 675
Date of publication 9th May 2003
Image Size 15" X 20.25".
Complete with wash/line, french bound mount

In accordance with his usual practice Russell Flint inscribed the back of 'The Newspaper' with the date and title.
In this case the date is written as 'May 1962-April 1963' which is not intended to imply that the picture took all twelve months to paint, but rather to record the time between inception and completion.
Such a time scale was not uncommon for Russell Flint. Landscapes were painted 'in the field', but figures no matter how small, were always added later from models posing in his studio.
In this way it is easy to see how a picture could take several months to complete and of course memorably in the case of 'Casual Assembly', the best part of twenty years.
Despite this passage of time, figures were not added at random.
From the outset they were conceived as part of the finished picture and Russell Flint was confident enough of his composition to leave underpainted areas into which figures could be placed.
The actual pose and costume however could be a matter of trial and error before he was absolutely satisfied and as a result of this he was known to be a hard taskmaster by his models.
Russell Flint was not averse to occasionally painting his models reading books or observing pictures and there is in these poses, particularly in pictures with only a single figure, an intimacy that gives the picture an unaffected air.
Here the calm manner in which the model is casually flicking through the newspaper sets the tone for the whole picture and the overall effect is very natural, a relaxing moment in a quiet sunny corner.

---

Visit the studio in Nottinghamshire.

bronze and silver
portraitofdenise
charlotte
dance of a thousand flounces
dancerlotussoshan
dragon
St. Jean de Cole, well
portraitofdenise
holiday after ramadan
mathilda's kitchen
model and critic, painting
nude-redchalk
Girl in a Spanish dress mantilla
Osier
pink wash, france
Rosalinda
phyllissalone
portraitofdenise
salamanders, st. Tropez
sandrine
portraitofdenise
sirens
portraitofdenise
La porte Chapelle Compiegne
springtimeintheardeche
track across the dunes
portraitofdenise
under the sundial, Cobonne
vanity in the old guard room
washerwomenbythedrome