Derek Jarman ('Seer')

by Michael Clark
oil on card, 1993
17 3/4 in. x 13 1/8 in. (451 mm x 333 mm)
Purchased, 1995
Primary Collection
NPG 6322

Sitterback to top

(Michael) Derek Elworthy Jarman (1942-1994), Film-maker, painter, stage designer, gardener and campaigner for gay rights. Sitter in 16 portraits.

Artistback to top

Michael Clark (1954-), Artist. Artist of 2 portraits.

This portraitback to top

The portrait was the last sanctioned by Jarman and includes a quotation from Lorca in mirror-writing. In translation this reads: 'Enjoy the luscious landscape of my wound ... but hurry! ... Time meets us, and we are destroyed.'

Linked publicationsback to top

Saumarez Smith, Charles, The National Portrait Gallery: An Illustrated Guide, 2000, p. 232
Saumarez Smith, Charles, The National Portrait Gallery, 1997, p. 233 Read entry
Michael Clark's portrait of Derek Jarman, the brilliant artist, film-maker, writer and gardener, was done on card at the Soho patisserie Maison Bertaux, just before Jarman's death from AIDS. By the time of his death Jarman had become a cult figure, and this is the last known portrait for which he sat. Jarman talked during sittings about his film Blue and Clark then worked from photographs. He added an inscription from Lorca in mirror writing: GOZA EL FRESCO PAISAJE DE MI HERIDA ... PERO PRONTO! ... EL TIEMPO NOS ENCUENTRE DESTROZADOS - 'Enjoy the luscious landscape of my wound ... but hurry! ... time meets us, and we are destroyed.'
Saywell, David; Simon, Jacob, Complete Illustrated Catalogue, 2004, p. 334

Linked displays and exhibitionsback to top

Life, Death and Memory (17 April 2017 - 4 February 2018)

Subjects & Themesback to top

Oil
Painting

Events of 1993back to top

Current affairs

The Conservative Party is attacked in the media for 'sleaze'. Two MP's resign over sex scandals, two over the 'cash-for-questions affair', and one dies in bizarre and embarrassing circumstances. Journalist Max Clifford was responsible for exposing many of the scandals.
Black teenager Stephen Lawrence is murdered in a racist attack by a gang of white youths.

Art and science

Rachel Whiteread wins the Turner Prize for her sculpture House; a concrete cast of the inside of a Victorian terraced house in East London. Controversy was caused by the work itself, by it winning the Turner Prize, and by the decision of Tower Hamlets council to demolish the sculpture.
British inventor James Dyson revolutionises the vacuum cleaner with his eponymous design.

International

Czechoslovakia is divided into two countries: the Slovak Republic (Slovakia) and the Czech Republic. The division was peaceful and democratic and so became known as the 'Velvet Divorce', recalling the 'Velvet Revolution' of 1989 by which Communism in Czechoslovakia was overthrown through peaceful mass demonstrations.

Tell us more back to top

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