Somerset Maugham Altarpiece

This painting is based on a bookjacket showing a photograph of the author W. Somerset Maugham taken by Yousuf Karsh - his 'public face'. In its title and scale, the painting considers the relationship between the photographic portrait and religious painting in terms of their similar use of formulaic poses and chiaroscuro. The painting morever considers the disjunction between public and private selves (significantly, Maugham was a instantly recognisable celebrity in his lifetime, yet his private life was necessarily shrouded from view). Transcribed from a book cover, this work also straddles the genres of portraiture and still life, returning to the trope of the 'painted photograph'.