Ruth Lacey portraits

Jaimie

Jaimie, 2015, oil on canvas, 40 x 50 cm

Beach Concert

Beach concert, 2012, oil on canvas, 40 x 40 cm

Mainbocher Corset

Mainbocher Corset, 2012, oil on canvas, 50 x 40 cm Inspired by a 1939 photograph by P. Horst for Vogue: "It was created by emotion.... It was the last photo I took in Paris before the war. I left the studio at 4.00 a.m., went back to the house, picked up my bags and caught the 7.00 a.m. train to Le Havre to board the Normandie.... The photograph is peculiar -- for me. While I was taking it, I was thinking of all that I was leaving behind."

The Diver

The Diver, 2011, oil on canvas, 50 x 40 cm Inspired by a photograph by George Hoyningen-Huene, famous for his swimsuit photos in the 20s and 30s. Born in Russia in 1900, he was chief photographer for French Vogue when this appeared.

Tahiti

Tahiti, 2017, oil on canvas, 50 x 40 cm Inspired by a 1954 photograph by Eliot Elisofon

Harlem

It's the 1960s and this young photographer is knocking on doors in Harlem, NYC, asking people if he can take their photographs. He wants to show how ordinary people live. He mounts an exhibition, becomes famous. They remain anonymous, but everybody's seen their image. I looked at them in B&W and saw them in purple and yellow and the mix of them, brown. He is so serious and she is so sweet.

Philippines

Philippines, 2019, oil on canvas, 50 x 40 cm

Citroen 2CV

La 2VC, 2009, oil on canvas, 90 x 60 cm It’s true the Citroën is no classic beauty. It’s not a Maserati or a white MG. But the hood rolls back and you can feel the wind and see the stares. The only drawback is the windscreen wipers, which are synchronised to the speedometer. When the car speeds up or slows down, they do too. When it rains hard, you have to drive it fast so you can see.

Off Duty

Off Duty, 2015, oil on canvas, 70 x 90 cm

Eyes

Eyes, 2013, oil on canvas, 40 x 50 cm

Summer Living, Vogue 1947

Morocco

Morocco, 2012, oil on canvas, 60 x 50 cm

Divers

Divers, 2011, oil on canvas, 50 x 40 cm George Hoyningen-Huene photographed "Plongeurs" (1930) for Vogue. It's apparently a photo of Gerald and Sara Murphy, the inspiration for Fitzgerald's Dick and Nicole Diver in TENDER IS THE NIGHT, at Antibes in the South of France.