*MICHAEL NOAKES (1933-2018) 'Self portrait with mauve tie'

Michael Noakes was an English artist and portrait painter, educated at Downside School and the Royal Academy Schools. He was President of the Royal Institute of Oil Painters and Chairman of the Contemporary Portrait Society.
He has painted many of the world's leading figures. Among those who sat for him are Pope Benedict XVI, Queen Elizabeth II, Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, King Charles III and Anne, Princess Royal, as well as most other members of the Royal Family. He was commissioned to paint Margaret Thatcher when she was Prime Minister and painted President Clinton, making preparatory studies with the President in the Oval Office – one of only very few painters to have been given such access to any President of the United States.
For his portrait of Frank Sinatra, used for the cover artwork for the 1977 album ‘Portrait of Sinatra’ Noakes received a platinum disc, the only painter ever to have been awarded such an honour.