Earlier this week my portrait of Governor Mark Carney was unveiled at the Bank of England. Mark Carney has been Governor for 7 years at the Bank and he leaves office today to make way for his successor Andrew Bailey. Former Chancellor George Osborne described him as ‘the outstanding central banker of his generation”. Prior to being Governor of the Bank of England Mark Carney was Governor of the Bank of Canada, a position he took up after 13 years at the investment bank Goldman Sachs. This week, after cutting the interest rate, he gave a press conference with Andrew Bailey, saying that the economic shock from coronavirus would be large but ultimately temporary.
The painting will hang alongside the portraits of previous Governors of the Bank of England, in the central area of the Bank where the Governor and senior officials have their offices and meeting rooms. This grand part of the Bank is known as the Parlours.
The painting itself depicts Governor Mark Carney in his office, with the sunlight shining in. Aside from it being interesting to meet and get to know him a bit I found it a really interesting portrait to paint from a lighting point of view because in the various parts of the portrait the light bounces and reflects in all sorts of different ways. For example it shines on the grass and consequently bounces back up onto the building. This view out into the central garden of the bank seen through a window reflects part of the room inside and the back of the sitter on the glass surface. How to paint the strong blown out areas of light was also a challenge. I decided to render them softly although I had thought I might paint them more expressively at first. I avoided expressive painterly marks in this picture as I wanted the atmosphere to be more mellow and reflective. I aimed to strike a balance between the positive brightly lit atmosphere created by the light and the expression in the face which has warmth but has also a touch of sobriety.
