Holiday decor envelops Kate Madden’s home, yet there is one item that doesn’t need seasonal ribbon and twinkle lights to grab attention. It’s the portrait of her oldest daughter, Eliza. “There’s a keepsake element to it,” admits Madden. “It’s original art and an heirloom. She was five when we had it done. She’s seven now. It’s a full-body oil painting, and she’s in a gown I had made for her to wear.”
Madden vividly recalls Eliza posing for the painter, just as she recalls posing as a young child. “It’s a full-body pastel,” the Greensboro, North Carolina native reveals. “My mother commissioned it when I was five or six. It still hangs in my parent’s den. If you had a portrait done as a child, oftentimes, it’s on your radar. I knew I wanted to do it with my children.”
Preserving loved ones in paint is a time-honored tradition in the South. In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, these tangible treasures maintained old-world standards reflecting social and economic status. Doting parents also felt an urgency to freeze their children in time to counter a high mortality rate. Prior to photography, portraits were the only way to “hold onto” a person.
While Thomas Gainsborough’s Blue Boy, featuring a pink-cheeked English child in flamboyant, blue satin breeches, was an early trendsetter, today, parents are delighted with less elaborate creations showcasing their offspring. “It becomes a memory and experience for both the child who is sitting and their parents,” explains Madden. “I joke this portrait is going to the nursing home with me. My baby girl is not always going to be a four-year-old with chubby cheeks. I want to remember that in ten years. I want it to hang on the wall of future generations.”
The former marketing and communications executive is so engrossed in the process and committed to the tradition that she’s become a portrait broker with Portrait Associates. “We represent about 40 artists across the country who work in a variety of mediums,” she says. “I meet with clients and help identify budget, timing, style, and space. From a young age, I’ve displayed a passion for things linked to home design. I’ve always loved and appreciated art and design.”
Madden serves as a bridge to the creation of charcoals, pastels, and watercolors for families and institutional clients (think judicial, academic, and corporate portraits). The Greenville resident has witnessed how portraiture has evolved with different styles over the years, and she embraces the current aesthetic. “There’s been a resurgence of portrait popularity with grandmillennial trends,” the 41-year-old shares. “People are buying portraits from antique stores and estate sales to give their home a generational feel, but it doesn’t have to be a random face.” Make it a personal artistic statement that simultaneously creates a family tradition.
Painting Primer
Cost: $1,200 for a simple charcoal piece, up to $40,000 for full-body oil painting.
Age: 4–7 years old is the average age for a child’s portrait.
Medium: Influenced by budget and age. Watercolor and pastels convey the gentle innocence of younger children. In oil paintings, the movement of brush strokes combined with rich colors portrays the energy and activity of older children.
Size: Consider where the portrait will live. Composition will also help dictate size. For instance, a larger canvas suits a full-body portrait.
Time: Oil paintings take longer than pastel or charcoal versions. Eighteen months may pass between sitting and delivery of an oil portrait.
Photography: Artists will share if they can paint from a photograph, but a live sitting is recommended to capture the subject’s personality.
For more on Kate Madden, other brokers, and artists, visit PortraitAssociates.com.
