Andrew James Black & White Brook painted his first wife

Brook painted his first wife Peggy many times but this coy little portrait is so intimate a study

It was in the early 1980s (in my dentist’s waiting room) that I discovered the iconic British comic 2000 AD

Medium Details: Oil pastel

as he is internationally collected and sits in many public collections including the Tate and what’s more was a much respected professor of painting at the Royal Academy Schools

It does happen occasionally but short of the painter using a pseudonym to dodge a gallery contract – as often happened – or a joker adding their name for some spurious reason

Andrew James Black & White Brook painted his first wife"I have always shied away from using vivid colour in favour of earthier tones, but Andys work has taught me that bright ness does not make things discordant. His work is, quite simply, spectacular."