BIO
Filmed by Timothy Gatenby
a b o u t
Isabella Watling was born in London in 1990, and spent her formative years in the UK and Australia. From the age of 18 she trained at the Charles H. Cecil Studios in Florence where she returns periodically to teach portrait and figure painting. Isabella now lives and works in London.
Her time at the studio gave Isabella a rigorous training in sight-size portraiture, following the tradition of masters like Van Dyck, Velázquez and Sargent. In keeping with this approach, Isabella’s portraits are painted to the scale of life, under natural light and always directly from the sitter.
Most of IsaBella’s work is undertaken on commission and has seen her travel to paint in America, and around Europe. She has shown her work regularly in galleries and .exhibitions in London
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Isabella’s portrait ‘The Importance of Being Glenn’ was exhibited at the National Portrait Gallery, London for the BP Portrait Award 2012. Her full length portrait gina and Cristiano was exhibited at the Bp portrait award 2014.
e x h i b i t i o n s
2022 Awarded fifth place at the Portrait Society of America's Annual international portrait prize, Atlanta
2022 The Royal Society of Portrait painters At The Mall Galleries, London
2021 The Royal Society of Portrait Painters at The Mall Galleries, London
2020 The Royal Society of Portrait Painter at The Mall Galleries, London
2018 Site Unseen, a group exhibition at Dellasposa Gallery, 2A Bathurst a Street
2017 Society of Women Artists at The Mall Galleries, London
2017 In Pursuit of things Past group exhibition at 10 Shepherd Street, Mayfair, London
2016 Face.Time group exhibition at 90 Piccadilly, Mayfair, London, W1J 7NE
2016 The Royal Society of Portrait Painters at The Mall Galleries, London
2015 Taught a 2 day workshop at the National Portrait Gallery to coincide with the Exhibition Sargent: Portraits of Artists and Friends
2014 Shooting star Chase Art exhibition at The Royal College of Art, London
2014 Young Emerging Artists group exhibition at the Oil and Water Gallery London
2014 Sargent Today At Morgan Hall, Fairford
2014 BP Portrait Award at The National Portrait Gallery, London
2014 20/21 International Art Fair at The Royal College of Art, London
2014 Group Exhibition at The British Institute, Florence
2013 Shooting Star Chase Art Exhibition at The Royal College of Art, London
2012 Student Exhibition at Charles H. Cecil studios, Florence
2012 BP Portrait Award at the National Portrait Gallery, London
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p r e s s
Financial Times HTSI - How to commission a portrait
The Evening Standard – 12/07/2012, Brian Sewell.
The Jackdaw – June 2012, David Lee
Pembroke College Cambrigde – March
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Artists and illustrators Magazine - Febuary 2017 Natalie Milner
The Independent – 24/06/2012, Claudia Pritchard.
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Pembroke College Cambrigde – March 2016, Unveiling of the portrait of Emma Johnson.
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