Jean Muir

1 portrait of Jean Muir

© David Remfry / National Portrait Gallery, London

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Jean Muir

by David Remfry
watercolour, 1981
40 3/8 in. x 27 1/8 in. (1026 mm x 689 mm)
Purchased, 1981
Primary Collection
NPG 6556

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  • David Remfry (1942-), Artist. Artist or producer of 2 portraits, Sitter in 3 portraits.

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Current affairs

Prince Charles marries Lady Diana Spencer at St Paul's Cathedral. A crowd of 600,000 spectators filled the streets to catch a glimpse of the Royal couple, and 750 million viewers watched the event on television. The iconic moment came when Charles and Diana appeased the crowds by breaking royal protocol and kissing on the balcony of Buckingham Palace.

Art and science

Andrew Lloyd-Webber's musical Cats, based on T. S. Eliot's Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats, opens in the West End. The show ran for 21 years.
Brideshead Revisited, the 1945 novel by Evelyn Waugh, is adapted for television by John Mortimer. The lavish production featured an all-star cast of Jeremy Irons, Anthony Andrews, Laurence Olivier, Claire Bloom and John Gielgud, setting the bar high for future TV costume dramas.

International

Pope John Paul II is shot by a Turkish gunman in St Peter's Square in Rome. John Paul was rushed to hospital where he recovered, and Mehmet Ali Agca was caught and sentenced to life imprisonment.
HIV AIDS is identified in five men in Los Angeles.

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David Remfry

10 June 2022, 15:13

In 1980 David Remfry was selected by Prudence Glynn, then fashion editor at The Times, as one of three artists who would be commissioned to produce a portrait of Glynn wearing a couture dress. Soon after, Remfry produced an oil painting of the journalist wearing a dress by the Japanese designer Yuki Torii.

Glynn later commissioned Remfry to produce a portrait of the fashion designer Jean Muir for The Times, a pencil drawing on paper. Further to its completion, the artist continued to visit Muir at her apartment in Albert Mansions overlooking Hyde Park and her husband, Harry Leuckert, commissioned him to produce a watercolour.

David Remfry visited Muir many times over the course of several months. He recalls the floors and furniture of her apartment being pristine white, and the walls being adorned with paintings by the likes of Bridget Riley. Muir would commence each sitting by requesting that her Spanish housekeeper bring over a tray bearing coffee, half a bottle of Champagne, and French pastries. These would be placed on a white table featured in the final watercolour, in which Muir’s reflection can be seen. Remfry and Muir would talk as he sketched and painted, her conversation sometimes punctuated by strange bird-like noises.

Around this time, the National Portrait Gallery approached the artist about purchasing one of his portraits for their collection; they were particularly keen on acquiring his watercolour of Muir, which was then sold to the gallery rather than her husband. The couple were pleased that it would be in the collection of such a significant institution.

Muir had been very happy with the final watercolour that was bought by the National Portrait Gallery, and she and David’s friendship continued until her death in 1995.