David Farrant

Born in London in 1938, David Farrant has built a reputation as one of the finest painters of portraiture in the country. Following his training at St. Martin’s, London, David embarked on an impressive career which has included exhibitions at the National Portrait Gallery (where he was a finalist in the John Player Award for Portraiture 1989) and at the Mall Gallery in London with the Royal Society of Portrait Painters. He has also undertaken over 20 portrait commissions and has work in private collections all over the world.

Like Hopper or Vettriano, David’s primary inspiration stems from everyday scenes of human interaction, and he reproduces these against a living background of muted colours and complex shadows. His preferred medium is either acrylics or oils, and his large-scale compositions have a huge impact whether displayed in a corporate or a domestic environment.

Within his busy painting schedule, David also fiinds the time to teach students at a local College of Art.

"I like to think my pictures work on two levels - firstly, and in a formal sense, as compositions in which strong tonal contrast, accents of colour and simplification of form are key elements. Secondly, and in a narrative sense, I hope they carry a mood and the possibility of an unfinished story which the viewer can share".