Diana, Princess of Wales (Nelson Shanks portrait)

Last updated

Diana, Princess of Wales
Portrait of HRH Diana, Princess of Wales.jpg
Artist Nelson Shanks
Year1996
TypePortrait
Location Althorp

Diana, Princess of Wales is a 1996 painting of Diana, Princess of Wales, by the American artist Nelson Shanks. [1] The painting was first shown at Hirschl & Adler Gallery in New York City, 24 April to 28 June 1996, [2] and now hangs in the Princess's ancestral home at Althorp. [3]

Description

The portrait was commissioned in 1994 and completed in 1996 around the time when Diana's divorce from Prince Charles was finalised. [3] It was originally on display at her home at Kensington Palace before being moved to her ancestral home Althorp following her death. [3] [4] Diana sat for the portrait around 30 to 50 times over 35 hours at the Tite Street studio in London. [3] [4] [5]

During the sitting the process, Shanks also produced a head study of the princess that shows her looking downwards while wearing her green velvet halter dress by Catherine Walker. [4] In the final full-length portrait, however, Diana is depicted wearing a white blouse and blue skirt. [4] [6] The head study was auctioned at Sotheby's in 2022 and sold for $201,600. [4] [7] It was then displayed at Masterpiece London Art Fair from 30 June to 6 July 2022. [8] The gallerist described the oil sketch as "extraordinarily rare" as it captured "both the public and private character simultaneously. Shank's sketch uniquely fuses Diana's glamour with the affecting pathos of her final years." [8]

References

  1. ↑ "Nelson Shanks, Painter of Presidents and Royalty, Dies at 77". The New York Times. 30 August 2015. Retrieved 31 August 2015.
  2. ↑ "Nelson Shanks, renowned portrait artist, dead at 77". Philly.com. 29 August 2015. Retrieved 30 August 2015.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Portrait of Diana, Princess of Wales by Nelson Shanks » Spencer of Althorp". Archived from the original on 9 February 2013. Retrieved 3 March 2013.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Jones, Zoe Christen (28 January 2022). "Rare portrait of Princess Diana sells for more than 10 times the expected price". CBS News. Retrieved 1 August 2025.
  5. ↑ "Princess Diana - Masterpiece 2022 A Portrait by Nelson Shanks". Philip Mould & Company. Retrieved 1 August 2025.
  6. ↑ Bell, BreAnna (1 July 2022). "'Extraordinarily Rare' Portrait of Princess Diana Goes on Public Display for First Time". People. Retrieved 1 August 2025.
  7. ↑ Da Silva, Chantal (28 January 2022). "Rare portrait of Diana, Princess of Wales, sells for more than $200,000". NBC News. Retrieved 1 August 2025.
  8. 1 2 Prisco, Jacopo (30 June 2022). "'Extraordinarily rare' Princess Diana portrait goes on display in London". CNN. Retrieved 1 August 2025.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.