STEPHEN FINER (B. 1949) IS A LONDON-BASED ARTIST, exhibiting SINCE THE 1980S. 

FINER PARTICIPATED IN BRITISH ART FROM THE ARTS COUNCIL COLLECTION 1940–80 AT THE HAYWARD GALLERY IN 1980 AND COLAZIONE INGLESE II AT THE VENICE BIENNALE IN 1984. FINER ALSO EXHIBITED IN THE PORTRAIT NOW (1993-94) AND PAINTING THE CENTURY: 101 PORTRAIT MASTERPIECES 1900–2000 (2000), BOTH AT THE NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY, WHERE HIS PORTRAIT OF DAVID BOWIE RESIDES IN THE PERMANENT COLLECTION.

FINER’S PAINTINGS ARE LIKEWISE IN THE PUBLIC COLLECTIONS OF ARTS COUNCIL ENGLAND, ATKINSON ART GALLERY, BRITISH COUNCIL, CONTEMPORARY ART SOCIETY, LOS ANGELES COUNTY MUSEUM OF ART (LACMA), MAGDALENE COLLEGE AND PALLANT HOUSE GALLERY, AMONG MANY OTHERS. 

"Finer...is as distinguished as any painter of his generation"

William Packer, Financial Times, Thursday 5 June 1986

FINER ENDED UP PAINTING BOTH DAVID BOWIE AND HIS WIFE IMAN SEVERAL TIMES. 

HE PERFECTLY CAPTURED BOWIE'S ESSENCE AND PERSONALITY, TRANSLATING HIS EXPERIENCE AND FEELINGS THROUGH ACCUMULATING LAYERS OF PAINT, RE-WORKING IT UNTIL HE COULD EVOKE BOTH THE PRESENCE AND THE IMAGE OF BOWIE’S PERSON. IN 1995, FINER’S PORTRAIT OF BOWIE (BELOW) WAS bought by THE NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY and CELEBRATED BY BOWIE HIMSELF AS A ‘WONDERFUL PAINTING’.

ROLLING STONE CRITIC BRIAN HIATT NOTED IN HIS BOOK, A PORTRAIT OF BOWIE, THAT: ‘…THE IMAGE THAT MIGHT COME CLOSEST TO CAPTURING BOWIE IN HIS WORLD-CHANGING TOTALITY IS AN ABSTRACT PAINTING BY STEPHEN FINER, BUILT UPON THE VERY IMPOSSIBILITY OF NAILING HIM DOWN. IN THE PORTRAIT, BOWIE’S FACE SPLAYS KALEIDOSCOPICALLY OUTWARD, AS IF CAUGHT BETWEEN PHASES, AS IF HE’S THE SIXTIES FOLKIE, THE SEVENTIES GLAM ALIEN, THE CLEAN-CUT EIGHTIES HITMAKER AND MORE, ALL AT ONCE’. 

THE NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY ALSO DISPLAYED IMAN AND DAVID BOWIE (1995) IN PAINTING THE CENTURY: 101 PORTRAIT MASTERPIECES 1900–2000 (2000). 

MARIA MAGDALENE DIETRICH (1901-1992), KNOWN AS MARLENE DIETRICH, WAS A GERMAN-AMERICAN ACTRESS AND SINGER WHO DOMINATED THE 1930S AND THE 1940S WITH HER EXPLOSIVE SEX APPEAL, UNIQUE VOICE, AND DISTINCTIVE PERSONAL STYLE. 

DIETRICH AND FINER MET BY ACCIDENT IN LONDON, MANY YEARS BEFORE HE DECIDED TO PAINT HER. 

FINER saw DIETRICH PERFORM TWICE AT THE QUEEN’S THEATRE AND THE GOLDERS GREEN HIPPODROME IN LONDON. "WHEN WE MET SHE WAS WEARING A BROWN SUEDE COAT WITH A BELT TIED AT THE WAIST, BROWN SUEDE BOOTS THAT HAD TESSELLATED TOPS AND A MINK HAT. SHE GAVE ME HER AUTOGRAPH USING MY PARKER FOUNTAIN PEN". 

DIETRICH AND BOWIE FEATURE IN HER FINAL 1978 FILM 'JUST A GIGOLO’, IN WHICH BOWIE PLAYS THE ROLE OF AN EX-PRUSSIAN OFFICER BACK TO BERLIN AT THE END OF THE FIRST WORLD WAR WHO REINVENTS HIMSELF AS A GIGOLO WORKING AT BARONESS VON SEMERING'S (DIETRICH) BROTHEL. 

MARLENE DIETRICH (1988) WAS ON LOAN TO THE NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY FOR THE PORTRAIT NOW EXHIBITION (1993-1994). 

"I dress for the image. Not for myself, not for the public, not for fashion, not for men" - Marlene Dietrich 

MERLYN DRIVER 

MERLYN DRIVER from orkney IS A singer song writer WITH PARTICULAR FOCUS ON THE CONNECTION BETWEEN MUSIC AND NATURE. 

FINER MET DRIVER IN 2013 WHILE HE WAS WORKING ON THE KING'S ROAD. 

THEY TALKED AND HAD GOOD SYNERGY. GIVEN HIS APPETITE FOR ALL FORMS OF ART, FINER STARTED FOLLOWING HIS MUSIC, BROADCASTS AND GIGS, GOING TO PAINT MERLYN MULTIPLE TIMES.

THEY ARE NOW GOOD FRIENDS. 

www.merlyndriver.com

MIXED:

1980          British Art 1940-80 from the Arts Council Collection, Hayward Gallery, London
1984          Colazione Inglese ll, Venice Biennale, Italy

1993-94     The Portrait Now, National Portrait Gallery London

1996          The Discerning Eye, Mall Galleries, London - Finer invited by Martin Gayford 

2000-01     Painting the Century: 101 Portrait Masterpieces 1900 to 2000, National Portrait Gallery London

2003         The National Portrait Gallery Collects, Bodelwyddan Castle, Wales
2006         ‘An American Abroad Sandra Fisher and her School of London Friends’, New York Studio School, NY 

2014-16    'In the Frame: Plymouth's Portraits Revealed', Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery

SOLO:

1981    Four Vine Lane, London

1982    Four Vine Lane, London

1985    Four Vine Lane, London

1986    Anthony Reynolds Gallery, London

1988    Anthony Reynolds Gallery, London

1989    Berkeley Square Gallery, London

1992    Bernard Jacobson Gallery, London                 

1994    Woodlands Art Gallery

1995    Bernard Jacobson Gallery, London

1998    'Heads', Agnew's, London

1999    'Sir Morris Finer' & other paintings, Agnew's, London

2001    Pallant House Gallery, Chichester, Sussex

2004    Art Space Gallery, London

2010    'Paintings and Watercolours', Art Space Gallery, London

2012    'Duncan Hume Dancing and Other People', Art Space Gallery, London

2015    'Merlyn Driver recording and other paintings', Art Space Gallery, London

FOR SALE ENQUIRIES AND INFO PLEASE CONTACT ALEX@MASTERPIECEART.CO.UK ARIANNA@MASTERPIECEART.CO.UK