Margot, Lochlan 9th and Paley 14th Portrait by Serge Gay Jr.

Well this post was certainly going to happen at some point. I have been collecting Serge Gay Jr. work for over 15 years now. My first piece, almost everyone can’t stand to look at, because it provokes or creeps them out. That can be said about almost every piece of his in my collection. When I started commissioning Paley’s portraits 14 years ago, I knew one day I would have a group painting at some point. Let’s be honest organizing 3 commission a year is not easy. Even as I write this I am negotiating her Paley’s 16th portrait.

This is first painting I have commissioned from Serge and it went by so quickly. Originally I wanted Serge to do the kids 15th/10th portrait but  another artist lined up for Paley’s 14th need to be pushed out. Thankfully Serge was super flexible and went to work right away. Yes I know you like to have the kids smiling, but I live in their real world and we can’t be smiling all of the time. One of my requests of Serge was to give the painting a lot of color. He has used the collage background in several of his portraits and I love this aspect of the painting.

We shot the reference photos in the backyard and while there were several smiling shots. I really love that Serge chose these expressions. As you can see from the early sketch, I was feeling their expression and let him build on it. Paley’s and placement was perfect and I like how the girls are looking in one direction and Lochlan is looking off in his own direction.

Ultimately I think this portrait really reflects the transition from the COVID world into the Real World. At the time this painting was being painted, we were not yet back at 100%. Looking back at that time, it does seem strange that we still had many things we were choosing to not do or couldn’t do. I love this painting and look forward to doing another group portrait like this in the future.