Nova Scotia's Lipton's Soup portrait

Nova Scotia's Lipton's Soup portrait

I wonder if the Lipton Soup commission specified anything about the nature of colour in order to accommodate the production of their advertising pieces. Personally I detect a step up in colour intensity in these pieces, which is not unknown in other works, but it seems slightly up key to me. That red dress really outshines her brothers’ attire but we note that the actual faces are given equal and refined treatment. It’s a stable piece with its pyramidal composition, and even looks somewhat blessed with that ethereal light coming gingerly from above. Nice family but where is mummy. Perhaps there is a bigger story to this than meets the eye.

Oil on canvas. Photo credit: Joy MacFadyen.

Explore the exhibition