*NORMAN HEPPLE (1908-1994) HM Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother

This head and shoulders portrait is a study for the three-quarter-length portrait commissioned by Lloyd’s of London in 1987. This depicts the Queen Mother sitting in an armchair in a Drawing Room of Clarence House. A related chalk drawing was exhibited at Spink in 1987.
Hepple was a popular portraitist with members of the Royal Family, and works such as this show that he was able to achieve a remarkable rapport with his sitters. There is an informality and an ease in the handling which does not compromise the dignity of the subject. Hepple painted the Queen Mother for four separate commissions, although he worked on the latter two (including the Lloyd’s portrait) simultaneously to avoid taxing the subject (Times Obituary January 11th 1994).

Hepple painted members of the Royal Family on numerous occasions, and in addition to this portrait of the Queen Mother painted notable images of Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh and the Princess Royal. Hepple was a particular favourite of Queen Elizabeth II, and he is reported to have remarked that her sittings to him were ‘’worth it, for the conversation alone.’’