8 minute read
Culture Corner
CULTURE CORNER
Picture perfect
With her work hanging in the homes of HRH Princess Anne and the Duchess of Bedford, Lyn Beaumont is clearly an equine artist of considerable repute. AMANDA MAC spoke to Lyn recently about her remarkable equine portraiture.
MAIN: ‘Arabian Aura’ painted for exhibition in Dubai (photograph reference by and courtesy of Wojtek Kwiatkowski).
FACING PAGE: Lyn and Black Caviar (Image by Bronwen Healey).
There are, of course, many gifted portrait painters: artists whose work gives us pause for thought - a moment to appreciate, enjoy and acknowledge their considerable talent. But occasionally you discover an artist who has succeeded in capturing not just their subject’s physical appearance, but something else entirely: something very subtle, almost ethereal, which some might call the soul.
And that’s what immediately stands out in Lyn Beaumont’s equine portraiture. Her subjects’ personalities, clearly visible in their intelligent eyes, are right there, caught on the canvas.
This ability to recognise and capture a horse’s essence is perhaps a facet of her passion for them, which is something that has always been: “I think I was born with it,” she says. “My grandfather was a horseman and I was horse mad from a very early age. But my parents wouldn’t buy me a horse so I had to beg rides from friends with horses, or even from strangers riding past! If given the chance, I’d ride anybody’s horse – even if they were having trouble with it, I would ride it.”
Her first horse didn’t arrive until she was 18 with a job and income of her own. This horse, an ex-racer with an unfortunate attitude, almost killed her – so she bought another, also an ex-racehorse, who became a close and loyal companion until he was well into his 30s.
I’m curious to know if there was ever another career for Lyn other than painting, and her response is an indication of the way things were when she was a young woman: “In another life I was a nurse. In those days you had to be practical and you couldn’t make a living from artwork in the same way young people are directed to it today. But I still enjoyed drawing.”
However, everything changed when by chance, Lyn heard of a highly acclaimed local artist offering oil painting lessons in his home. The artist, Glenn Hoyle, was a gifted landscape painter and a great teacher. He fostered the early days of Lyn’s now 30-year-long career, teaching her to approach landscapes using the tonal technique, essentially a rendering of the subject in various shadings of one colour, much as you would see in a pencil sketch.
Predictably, as Lyn later developed her own unique style as an equine artist - with oils as her preferred medium - it was shaped by that early training: “I started to paint horses by myself, no one taught me that. But the tonal training I had did influence my style in the way I laid down and blended colours. The result is a lot softer, subtler,” she explains.
As her reputation as an artist grew, Lyn was commissioned by the Victorian Racing Club to paint the then Horse of the Year, the first of four such commissions. Of course, the jockey was a necessary addition to the portrait, sending Lyn on a steep learning curve: “I had to paint a human face, so I decided to take portraiture lessons from Brian Armstrong and Lee Machelak, who were both winners of the prestigious A.M.E. Bale Art Award, and both proponents of the tonal technique. My equine work developed from that point with the softness and tonality I learned in human
portraiture,” she explains.
But make no mistake, while Lyn’s work has that entrancingly ethereal quality, it also demonstrates a realism and precision that stems from her painstaking attention to both detail and anatomical accuracy.
A testament to her talent, Lyn’s work hangs in the private residences of HRH Princess Anne and the Duchess of Bedford, as well as in the boardrooms of the Victoria, Moonee, Melbourne and Mornington Racing Clubs. She has on several occasions been commissioned to paint Black Caviar, and the Australian Stud Book and Equine Federation of Australia have both purchased her work. Her paintings hang in private collections around Australia, UK, the USA, Ireland, New Zealand and Japan, and have been exhibited in Melbourne, Brisbane, Sydney, Dubai and New York.
With this kind of success, you’d imagine that a relaxed, grounded home life might be an advantage - and that appears to be the case. Lyn and husband Neil live in Victoria on a property they share with eight horses (nine if you count the one currently holidaying with them), including a couple of Warmbloods, an Arabian, some Thoroughbreds, and the odd cross or two, as well as two dogs, seven cows and a colourful Brazilian parakeet that’s been with them for the past 20 years. “The bird is very pretty but very angry,” quips Lyn, “it’s lovely with us but definitely doesn’t like anyone else!”
Lyn’s passion for horses is all consuming: “My life revolves around them. I’ve broken one in, trained and reeducated quite a few, and I spend a lot of my time either dressage riding or trail riding. If I’m not painting them I’m either riding or working with them,” she laughs
Even with COVID-19 restrictions in place, as they were at the time of writing, Lyn remains busy: “I just shipped off the portrait of J.J. the Stockhorse and I’m now painting a picture of our two dogs as a gift for Neil.”
ABOVE: ‘Dynasty of Kings - Sir Tristram’, Sir Tristram, Zabeel, Octagonal, and Lonhro. A print of this painting hangs in the home of HRH Princess Anne (prints are available).
RIGHT: A commissioned portrait of the Andalusian stallion GrandiosoMG.
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It seems that many of Lyn’s commissioned pieces are created as gifts for a loved one, something that she finds particularly touching. “It’s a very personal gift,” she says thoughtfully. “When I accept a commission, whether it’s for a gift or otherwise, I have to liaise quite closely with the person commissioning the work so that I can perfect the image and be absolutely sure that I’m capturing the horse’s character and personality. And that takes a commitment from them to give me the time and details I need.”
Despite her considerable talents and enviable success as an artist, Lyn’s approach is remarkably modest. “For me, to be able to paint someone’s horse is both a privilege and a compliment because a portrait is something that’s really precious, it becomes a treasured possession. It’s lovely if I can actually see the horse but often I can’t, either because of distance, or because it’s a posthumous portrait – which inevitably brings tears to my eyes - or because someone has commissioned a painting as a surprise for their spouse. But these circumstances are never an issue because even if I have had the opportunity to see the horse, I always paint from photographs.” Lyn finds that by working this way she achieves a far more accurate representation of her subject, particularly given that horses, unlike human portrait subjects, don’t stay still for very long! I can’t help but ask Lyn about the way she feels as she paints, and her response is instant: “I feel inspired because I just love horses. They’re all so different and they each have their own story – I see them as individuals, as personalities. And to be able to give something back to people who love their horses is an absolute pleasure.” Personally, I think that the pleasure is all ours.
View more of Lyn’s work at www.lynbeaumont.com – or for portrait enquiries, email lyn@lynbeaumont.com
