The Cerebrant

Evelyn Mary Dunbar 18/12/1906 - 1960

Summary

A relaxed portrait of a middle aged man. He is sat down at a small table, which has various coloured books on it. One of the books is open and he is holding one of the pages in his right hand. He is looking towards his right, which is the direction the light is coming from. The sitter is dressed casually in a green, short sleeved, collared shirt. Evelyn Dunbar set out to capture the mood of her sitters beneath the surface of their appearance. Starting with a closely observed scene, she then put her imagination to work, combining an objective observation with her interpretation of the loved and familiar. This is a portrait of the artist's husband, Roger Folley (1912-2008), in his study on the top floor at their Oxfordshire home. Foley described his characteristic pose as "a celebration of thinking (as distinct from doing with reason)". When he gifted the painting to the gallery, he asked for its original title to be changed from 'Portrait of Roger Folley' to 'The Celebrant', meaning 'one who is thinking'. By removing the personal identity of the sitter, the painting can be seen to express a timeless and more universal inner character.