Portrait of Samuel Beckett

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Reginald Gray , Irish, 1913-2013

Title

Date1961

MediumTempera on wood panel

Dimensions

91.3 × 45.6 cm

Credit LinePurchased, 2021

Object numberNGI.2021.2

DescriptionReginald Gray exhibited at The Dublin Painters Gallery as a member of The Dublin Atelier from 1949. At this time he set up a studio on Lesson Street and came to know Patrick Swift whose work he greatly admired. In 1953 he rented rooms in the home of Cecil Ffrench Salkeld. He became involved in theatrical circles and began to design sets for the Pike Theatre. His designs included sets for Brendan Behan’s The Quare Fellow, Tennessee Williams’s The Rose Tattoo, and Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot.

Gray moved to London in 1957. At this time he began to paint in tempera. He became intrigued by the medium after seeing a black and white reproduction in a library book; a 15th-century portrait of Costanza Caetani attributed to Ghirlandaio. He visited the stores of the National Gallery to view the painting. Its reserve and austerity has a profound impact on him. He was part of the London School along with artists such as Francis Bacon, Frank Auerbach, and Lucian Freud. He painted in a purposefully naïve figurative style.

In 1961, Pike Theatre director, Alan Simpson, suggested that Gray should paint a portrait of Samuel Beckett. On his introduction, Gray went to Paris and worked on the portrait from life. It was exhibited at the RHA in 1963. The portrait is painted in tempera on panel. Gray’s monochrome palette and reserved style was inspired by Lucian Freud and Patrick Swift. The only colour that has been applied is to Beckett’s eyes, which are painted in a cool blue. John Haynes, who photographed Beckett in black & white in the 1970s, said that he regretted not attempting to use colour film to show his ‘beautiful cornflower blue eyes’.

Gray’s use of shadow on the figure and at the edges of the frame creates a trompe l'oeil effect. This not only relates to his interest in Renaissance portraiture but also to the expressive illusionism of avant-garde theatre design. Gray sent a photograph of the finished portrait to Beckett. He said that Beckett responded by postcard saying, “You had a bloody good look at me”.

Inscriptionlower centre: SAMUEL BECKETT/ MCMLXI/ REGINALD GRAY
ProvenanceCollectors Gallery, Portobello, London; Private collection, Dublin; Irish Art Auction, deVeres Auctions, Dublin, 8 December 2020, lot 21; Purchased, 2021Exhibition HistoryRoyal Hibernian Academy, Dublin, 1963