Dame Sally Davies

by Daphne Todd
oil on raised panels, 2016
50 3/4 in. x 23 7/8 in. (1290 mm x 608 mm) overall
Commissioned, 2016
Primary Collection
NPG 7022

Sitterback to top

Dame Sally Davies (1949-), Chief Medical Officer. Sitter in 3 portraits.

Artistback to top

Daphne Todd (1947-), Painter. Artist or producer of 5 portraits.

This portraitback to top

Daphne Todd trained at the Slade School of Fine Art (1964–71). She was the first woman to be appointed President of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters (1994–2000) and in 2010 won First Prize in the BP Portrait Award. Painted from life in the sitter’s offices at the Department of Health in Whitehall, the portrait shows Dame Sally Davies with a view of her assistants’ office in the background. The painting is made up of four panels, a characteristic of Todd’s approach, which is to allow a composition to evolve as she works. In making the portrait, Todd reacted to the experience of painting Davies while surrounded by the incidental objects of her working day.

Related worksback to top

NPG 7145: 'Work in Progress' (based on same portrait)

Placesback to top

Place made and portrayed: United Kingdom: England, London (sitter's offices, Department of Health, Whitehall)

Mediaback to top

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