Pietro Annigoni: Princess Margaret, Pt. 2

 

"Portrait of Princess Margaret" (detail)
by Pietro Annigoni

"With December came the fog and smog and I had often to work by artificial light, which was bad. Once again things were not going well with the portrait and I became increasingly irritated with myself. Irritation turned to depression from which only the company of my friends, always ready to help, could lift me. Usually we had dinner in a restaurant and then adjourned to the Pheasantry Club for a last drink. One night when I was saying my farewells there, intent upon a good night's sleep before going to Clarence House next day, a man came to me and told me to keep quiet while his friend was singing. Something snapped in me and I punched him in the chest and bellowed at him to get out of my way. When my friend, Alex, tried to stop me, I flung him under a table. That night I slept like a log but awoke full of sadness and uncertainty. 

Before leaving for Clarence House, I tried in vain to ring Alex and ask his forgiveness. It was a dark sombre day and the light in the 'studio' was very bad. I felt nervous and could not concentrate and that, in turn, must have made Princess Margaret restless. Her face on the canvas appeared to me deformed. Unloading some of my emotions, I told her the sorry tale of the previous evening, and she laughed and said, 'Be careful you don't end up in jail here, too.' Then she looked at the portrait and exclaimed, 'Oh, what's happened to my eyes? You've done something terrible to them! I was mortified and I worked on in silence until the end of that day's sitting when, to my horror, she asked, 'Is it all right for my mother to come to see it now?' There could not have been a worse time, but of course I had to answer, 'Yes'.

Left alone for a few minutes, I sponged off most of that day's work and corrected some passages, working as if in a trance, which end abruptly when the Princess returned, accompanied by her mother. The Queen Mother greeted me with a warm smile, looked at the portrait, and said immediately: 'But it's beautiful, such a good likeness. Really, I'm so moved. Look at me, there are tears in my eyes.' I looked, and it was true. Then I looked at the painting and suddenly it seemed to me, too, that I had at least achieved a good likeness. I was immensely cheered."

To be continued 

(Excerpted from "Pietro Annigoni: An Artist's Life" by Pietro Annigoni, 1977.)