Peter Edwards, (born 20 November 1955), is a British painter. He won the 1994

BP Portrait Award The BP Portrait Award is an annual portraiture competition held at the National Portrait Gallery in London, England. It is the successor to the John Player Portrait Award. It is the most important portrait prize in the world, and is reputedly ...

Early career

In 1980 he exhibited a small self-portrait in the

Royal Academy Summer Exhibition The Summer Exhibition is an open art exhibition held annually by the Royal Academy in Burlington House, Piccadilly in central London, England, during the months of June, July, and August. The exhibition includes paintings, prints, drawings, s ...

. The painting was bought by the art collector, Sir

Brinsley Ford Sir Richard Brinsley Ford (10 June 1908 – 4 May 1999) was a British art historian, scholar, and collector. He inherited a large collection of art from his family and was himself an avid collector. A drawing that he purchased in 1936 was sold ...

. In 1986 his portrait of The

Liverpool Poets The Liverpool poets are a number of influential 1960s poets from Liverpool, England, influenced by 1950s Beat poetry. They were involved in the 1960s Liverpool scene that gave rise to The Beatles. Their work is characterised by its directness of e ...

was purchased by the National Portrait Gallery. His continuing involvement with the gallery and Robin Gibson then 20th Century Curator (later Chief Curator) led to a major one-man exhibition and tour in the Gallery in April 1990 "Contemporary Poets", which consisted of 17 large canvasses of 20 poets, alongside a poem from each poet, numerous studies, and a series of Saturday morning readings from

Seamus Heaney Seamus Justin Heaney (; 13 April 1939 – 30 August 2013) was an Irish poet, playwright and translator. He received the 1995 Nobel Prize in Literature.

Douglas Dunn Douglas Eaglesham Dunn, OBE (born 23 October 1942) is a Scottish poet, academic, and critic. He is Professor of English and Director of St Andrew's Scottish Studies Institute at St Andrew's University. Background Dunn was born in Inchinnan, Re ...

Charles Causley Charles Stanley Causley CBE FRSL (24 August 1917 – 4 November 2003) was a British poet, school teacher and writer. His work is often noted for its simplicity and directness as well as its associations with folklore, legends and magic, espec ...

Wendy Cope Wendy Cope (born 21 July 1945) is a contemporary English poet. She read history at St Hilda's College, Oxford. She now lives in Ely, Cambridgeshire, with her husband, the poet Lachlan Mackinnon. Biography Cope was born in Erith in Kent (no ...

, and

Craig Raine Craig Anthony Raine, FRSL (born 3 December 1944) is an English contemporary poet. Along with Christopher Reid, he is a notable pioneer of Martian poetry, a movement that expresses alienation with the world, society and objects. He was a fellow o ...

. On 30 July 1991, Bobby Moore unveiled Edwards' portrait of

Bobby Charlton Sir Robert Charlton (born 11 October 1937) is an English former footballer who played either as a midfielder or a forward. Considered one of the greatest players of all time, he was a member of the England team that won the 1966 FIFA World ...

in the National Portrait Gallery, Sponsored by

British Gas plc British Gas plc was an energy and home services provider in the United Kingdom. It was formed when the British Gas Corporation was privatised as a result of the Gas Act 1986, instigated by the government of Margaret Thatcher and superseding the ...

, it marked the 25th anniversary of England winning the

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...

. He later painted Ryan Giggs for the National Library of Wales. In 1993 he exhibited in The Portrait Now show. In 1994 he won the

with ''Portrait of an Artist's Model'' (of

Marguerite Kelsey Marguerite Kelsey (11 January 1909 – 5 March 1995) was a British model for artists. She appears in notable works of art by Meredith Frampton, Dame Laura Knight, and Peter Edwards. Life Kelsey was born in 1909 in London and by the age of fiftee ...

). She had been the model of choice, in the inter-war years, for many leading artists, including

Meredith Frampton George Vernon Meredith Frampton (17 March 1894 – 16 September 1984) was a British painter and etcher, successful as a portraitist in the 1920s–1940s. His artistic career was short and his output limited because his eyesight began to f ...

. This award led to his commission to paint

Kazuo Ishiguro Sir Kazuo Ishiguro ( ; born 8 November 1954) is a British novelist, screenwriter, musician, and short-story writer. Ishiguro was born in Nagasaki, Japan, and moved to Britain in 1960 with his parents when he was five. He is one of the most cr ...

, which was unveiled the following summer in the National Portrait Gallery by

Ismail Merchant Ismail Merchant (born Ismail Noor Muhammad Abdul Rahman (25 December 1936 – 25 May 2005)) was an Indian film producer, director and screenwriter. He worked for many years in collaboration with Merchant Ivory Productions which included Direct ...

Public collections

* National Portrait Gallery, London. 6 works. The portraits are of:

Adrian Henri Adrian Henri (10 April 1932 – 20 December 2000) was a British poet and painter best remembered as the founder of poetry-rock group the Liverpool Scene and as one of three poets in the best-selling anthology '' The Mersey Sound'', along with ...

Roger McGough Roger Joseph McGough (; born 9 November 1937) is an English poet, performance poet, broadcaster, children's author and playwright. He presents the BBC Radio 4 programme '' Poetry Please'', as well as performing his own poetry. McGough was one ...

Brian Patten Brian Patten (born 7 February 1946) is an English poet and author. He came to prominence in the 1960s as one of the Liverpool poets, and writes primarily lyrical poetry about human relationships. His famous works include "Little Johnny's Confessi ...

, (triple portrait known as) The

Seamus Heaney Seamus Justin Heaney (; 13 April 1939 – 30 August 2013) was an Irish poet, playwright and translator. He received the 1995 Nobel Prize in Literature.

John Heath-Stubbs John Francis Alexander Heath-Stubbs (9 July 1918 – 26 December 2006) was an English poet and translator. He is known for verse influenced by classical myths, and for a long Arthurian poem, ''Artorius'' (1972). Biography and works Heath-Stub ...

Willy Russell William Russell (born 23 August 1946) is an English dramatist, lyricist and composer. His best known works are ''Educating Rita'', ''Shirley Valentine'', '' Blood Brothers'' and ''Our Day Out''. Early life Russell was born in Whiston, Lancash ...

Sir Bobby Charlton Sir Robert Charlton (born 11 October 1937) is an English former footballer who played either as a midfielder or a forward. Considered one of the greatest players of all time, he was a member of the England team that won the 1966 FIFA World C ...

, and

. *

The Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

, New York of the British Poet

Peter Reading Peter Reading (27 July 1946 – 17 November 2011) was an English poet and the author of 26 collections of poetry. He is known for his deep interest for the nature and use of classical metres. ''The Oxford Companion to Twentieth-Century Poetry'' de ...

, and

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...

poet Vahé Oshagan. *

National Museum Wales National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

, painting of

Tyrone O'Sullivan Tyrone O'Sullivan, OBE (born 1945), is a Welsh former National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) Branch Secretary, and current Chairman of Goitre Tower Anthracite Ltd., the owners of Tower Colliery. Early life O'Sullivan was born in the heart of ...

. *

Ulster Museum The Ulster Museum, located in the Botanic Gardens in Belfast, has around 8,000 square metres (90,000 sq. ft.) of public display space, featuring material from the collections of fine art and applied art, archaeology, ethnography, treasure ...

, Belfast, painting of

Michael Longley Michael Longley, (born 27 July 1939, Belfast, Northern Ireland), is an Anglo-Irish poet. Life and career One of twin boys, Michael Longley was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, to English parents, Longley was educated at the Royal Belfast A ...

. * National Library of Wales, 6 works *

St Andrews University (Aien aristeuein) , motto_lang = grc , mottoeng = Ever to ExcelorEver to be the Best , established = , type = Public research university Ancient university , endowment ...

, portrait of Principal Struther Arnott *

Birmingham University , mottoeng = Through efforts to heights , established = 1825 – Birmingham School of Medicine and Surgery1836 – Birmingham Royal School of Medicine and Surgery1843 – Queen's College1875 – Mason Science College1898 – Mason Univers ...

Warwick University , mottoeng = Mind moves matter , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £7.0 million (2021) , budget = £698.2 million (2020� ...

, painting of Sir

Christopher Zeeman Sir Erik Christopher Zeeman FRS (4 February 1925 – 13 February 2016), was a British mathematician, known for his work in geometric topology and singularity theory. Overview Zeeman's main contributions to mathematics were in topology, partic ...

* Ferens Gallery, Hull *

National Museums Liverpool National Museums Liverpool, formerly National Museums and Galleries on Merseyside, comprises several museums and art galleries in and around Liverpool, England. All the museums and galleries in the group have free admission. The museum is a non ...

portrait of Willy Russell * Williamson Art Gallery, Birkenhead * Moma Wales, Sir Kyffyn Williams, Ruth Lambert * St Georges hospital, London *

Sheffield University , mottoeng = To discover the causes of things , established = – University of SheffieldPredecessor institutions: – Sheffield Medical School – Firth College – Sheffield Technical School – University College of Sheffield , type = Pu ...

Portraits of Sir Peter Middleton and Sir Harry Kroto *

Manchester University , mottoeng = Knowledge, Wisdom, Humanity , established = 2004 – University of Manchester Predecessor institutions: 1956 – UMIST (as university college; university 1994) 1904 – Victoria University of Manchester 1880 – Victoria Univer ...

portraits of Sir Martin Harris and Alan Gilbert

Bibliography

*''The National Portrait Gallery Collection'', 1988. Page 203 colour illustration ''The Liverpool Poets'' Oil on canvass, 175.9 x 237.5 By Peter Edwards, 1985 (5853) *''Contemporary Poets, Portraits By Peter Edwards, A National portrait Gallery Exhibition'', 1990. "Foreword" by Robin Gibson Curator 20th Century Collection.
view
*'' The Portrait Now'', National Portrait Gallery, 1993. Page 52. *''drawings paintings and sculptures, the catalogue''. Published by the museums and galleries of Northern Ireland. . Page 247 Portrait of Michael Longley b.1939 (1989–1990) U4825 *''Royal Academy Illustrated 1996, A Souvenir of the 228th Summer Exhibition''. Page 10, Peter Edwards ''Self Portrait'' Oil 7 × 5 ins.

References

External links

*
National Portrait Gallery – Peter EdwardsArtist's website.The works of Peter Edwards on Art UKNational Museum WalesMetropolitan Museum of Art, New YorkEdwards as sitter in The National Portrait GalleryAdrian Henri website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Edwards, Peter 1955 births Living people People from Denbighshire People educated at Oswestry School British portrait painters 20th-century British painters British male painters 21st-century British painters BP Portrait Award winners People from Chirk People from Oswestry 20th-century British male artists 21st-century British male artists