Portrait artist Jonathan Yeo has a new subject: natural history broadcaster Sir David Attenborough.
The portrait was unveiled to the public on BBC's The One Show, and was commissioned to mark Sir David's 40 years of fellowship to the Royal Society, which commissioned the portrait. The 89-year-old broadcaster said in a previous ceremony: "It was a tremendous honour to be elected a fellow of the Royal Society over 40 years ago... To spend so much of my life looking at the natural world and attempting to convey to others its amazing complexity, beauty and increasingly its fragility has been a great privilege. It has only been possible thanks to the extraordinary natural history film makers and the many dedicated scientists who have willingly shared their work with us."
Yeo also recalled Attenborough's work, saying that Life on our Earth, released when he was about ten years old, was a "gamechanger," and made the "stuff you learned at school" come alive.
He painted Sir David with his hands clasped around his knee, which he found that the broadcaster did whenever he was engaged in conversation. In his portrait, he expressed that he wanted to communicate Attenborough's "wisdom and thoughtfulness," as well as his "sort of childlike, infectious enthusiasm."
He also depicts Sir David seated against a green background-a color that was originally used in a study, and that remains free for audience interpretation.
He described having been torn between focusing on painting his subject, and listening to his many stories. "Sir David has long been a personal inspiration, and so it was a huge honour to be asked to paint his portrait for the Royal Society,," he said. "It has been a thrill as well as a privilege to spend so much time with someone whose wisdom is so deep and broad, and who is also such brilliant and entertaining company."
Sir David became a member of the Royal Society in 1983 for his services to science in public engagement. His portrait hangs with those of Charles Darwin, Gideon Mantell, and other influential scientific figures, and will go on display as part of the Summer Science Exhibition starting July 2.
