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A portrait of Penguin Random House chair Baroness Gail Rebuck was this morning (14th July) unveiled at the National Portrait Gallery in London.
The commission was made possible through the J.P. Morgan Fund for New Commissions and will be displayed in Room 36 of the Lerner Galleries.
The artist behind the portrait is Jennifer McRae, an award-winning Scottish artist whose previous commissions include portraits of Dame Judi Dench (Garrick Club, London) and Sir Chris Hoy (Scottish National Portrait Gallery). She studied painting at Gray's School of Art in Aberdeen and is based in Edinburgh. The 54 by 43 inch oil on canvas painting is the second portrait of Baroness Rebuck to be commissioned. The first was by Nancy Honey, a digital pigment print on Hahnemuehle paper, released in June 2012.
Speaking at the unveiling, Rebuck said: "I can't quite believe I'm standing here next to my portrait on the wall. All my life I've been to the National Portrait Gallery I never dreamt that I'd actually be on the wall."
Artist Jennifer McRae with Gail Rebuck in front of the portrait. Picture: Jorge Herrera
Choosing the artist involved meetings with a small number of artists, "a bit like blind dating", Rebuck joked, adding when she met artist McRae it was "love at first sight, really".
She said: "I just knew (McRae) was the right person. I was quite nervous about it. Here was a woman who really knew what she wanted, a brilliant artist, and actually had produced my number one favourite portrait, that lovely long slim portrait of Michael Frayn."
Rebuck beside her potrait. Picture: Jorge Herrera
She added to McRae: "I remember you stood for several minutes in front of the canvas and it made me think about so many writers who either sit in front of either their computer or a piece of paper with an idea in their head but yet to get it out.
"We started this relationship, it's full of in jokes, and I think it's amazing. It was an absolute privilege to sit for you."
Rebuck also this year received the London Book Fair's Lifetime Achievement Award 2016.
Rebuck with Nigella Lawson in front of the portrait. Picture: Jorge Herrera