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108 Robbie Wraith (b.1952)
Portrait of a Girl
Charcoal, 60 x 47cm
(23.6 x 18.5”)
Signed and dated 2,000
Drawing is at one and the same time a spontaneous and a personal activity.This leads to an immedi-
acy which is very flattering to the viewer; it lets him into the creative process. Whereas a finished oil
is at one remove, both from the artist’s hand and the viewer’s eye, a drawing is more intimate. It is
a shared experience, like reading a poem; it is very one-on-one.The collaboration of the sitter is also
of vital importance; this, of course, is absolutely a one-on-one situation. In Robbie’s figure studies
and portraits there is a tangible participation, a will to be seen, the model’s desire to lend herself as a
conduit through which the artist may reach the viewer.
Robbie brings this facility of intimacy and immediacy to his handling of watercolours. Watercolour
drawing, as it is often termed, in the hands of a draughtsman like Robbie, retains that direct contact
between the mind and the hand of the artist. His transparent areas of coloured wash make their
effect without being restricted by a taut outline. Whilst watercolour has a greater capacity than oil
to render nuances of atmosphere, Robbie has developed a technique of using oil colour which has
affinities with the purer medium. He loses none of the sensitivity but cranks up the finish to another
level. Here the details of the handling are his means of communication. As with his drawings, there
is a universality and a sense of timelessness about these works.
Robbie Wraith left school at 16, and went to study in Florence at the invitation of Pietro Annigoni.
Since then he has had twenty five one-man exhibitions.
He has work in the collection of HMThe Queen as well as more than 40 pictures in the private col-
lection of HRHThe Prince of Wales, and also in the Royal Collection Windsor,The Vatican, Chat-
sworth, The National Trust, Oxford and Cambridge Universities, Eton College, The MCC, Shell
International, Blarney Castle, Fondazione Fremantle, Florence and many others.
€1,200 - 1,800