Richard Llewelyn Wathen is a British painter

Painting

Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...

 born in 1971. He lives in Norfolk

Norfolk

Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...

 in England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. Wathen graduated with a BA in Fine Art Painting from Winchester School of Art

Winchester School of Art

Winchester School of Art is the art school of the University of Southampton, situated 10 miles north of Southampton in the city of Winchester near the south coast of England.- Overview :...

 in 1995 and received an MA in Fine Art from the Chelsea School of Art in 1996.

Style

Richard Wathen's paintings are primarily portraits and his works have been compared to those of Thomas Gainsborough

Thomas Gainsborough

Thomas Gainsborough was an English portrait and landscape painter.-Suffolk:Thomas Gainsborough was born in Sudbury, Suffolk. He was the youngest son of John Gainsborough, a weaver and maker of woolen goods. At the age of thirteen he impressed his father with his penciling skills so that he let...

 in their subject matter and composition, though with a "strangeness" or "uneasiness" about them, even something "eerie" or "grotesque." His works are often described as being initially familiar, with their similarity to historical portraiture in composition and technique, but upon further inspection revealing "disquieting details" which contribute to the sense of eerie strangeness.

Exhibitions

Wathen's works have been exhibited in numerous galleries in cities across Europe and the US including solo shows in London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 and New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

. In 2004, Wathen contributed to the art exhibition, 100 MOTHERS

100 Mothers

100 Mothers was an art exhibition curated by Harry Pye that originally took place at the "Oh Art" Gallery at The Oxford House, Bethnal Green in March 2004...

 at The Oxford House

Oxford House

The term Oxford House may refer to any house operating under the "Oxford House Model", a community-based approach to addiction treatment, which attempts to provide an independent, supportive, and sober living environment. Today there are more than 1000 Oxford Houses in the United States and other...

 in Bethnal Green

Bethnal Green

Bethnal Green is a district of the East End of London, England and part of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, with the far northern parts falling within the London Borough of Hackney. Located northeast of Charing Cross, it was historically an agrarian hamlet in the ancient parish of Stepney,...

, London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

.