At Home In Houston With Two of America’s Most Celebrated Painters — Artists Sarah Lamb and David Larned Embrace the Realism
From Shells To Jill Biden's Official Portrait, a Marriage Of the Arts
By Catherine D. Anspon //
Two of America’s most celebrated classically trained painters — husband and wife David Larned and Sarah Lamb — are among a crop of Young Turks who began reviving the almost lost art of realism starting in the 1990s. While realism in painting goes back to the Renaissance, it also relates to a strain of American art whose practitioners included, in the colonial era, John Singleton Copley, followed by 19th century masters Thomas Eakins and Winslow Homer, segueing into the 20th century with Edward Hopper and Andrew Wyeth.
Lamb’s and Larned’s work is devoted, respectively, to still-life and portrait painting. Surprisingly, the couple is not located in the old guard Northeastern art-and-culture capitals of New York or Philadelphia — although they’ve both lived in Manhattan and Pennsylvania’s bucolic Brandywine Valley, as well as studying in France (Lamb) and Florence (Larned).
These two contemporary acolytes of realism have, for the past dozen years, plied their trade in Houston, a metropolis known more for its explosive contemporary swagger.
After all, this is the city of the landmark 1985-1986 MFAH traveling exhibition “Fresh Paint: The Houston School” and also the art town that shaped Julian Schnabel.
With dual studios in a contemporary inner-city home they share with daughter Sadie, Lamb and Larned’s creative kingdoms are both second-story bedrooms, transformed into the land of easels, palettes and oil paints. Just like the setup Vermeer favored, their studios are north facing, ideal for the diffused natural light they need for rendering still lifes and subjects for a constant flow of commissions.
The couple, whose Texas and national patrons are illustrious and often intensely private, are both collected by museums. Larned even has been chosen to paint Jill Biden’s official portrait as First Lady. Let’s learn from these sought-after painters at the top of their game.
PaperCity: What’s the reality of married artists and fellow realists?
Sarah Lamb: We understand how unique our careers are. It’s probably rare to have two married artists who do the same style of painting but in different genres. We understand when we each need to spend more time in the studio, because we’re passionate about what we do.
It also helps that we were trained in a similar 19th century style, so we can give critiques to each other — but only when asked. A golden rule.
David Larned: We can talk shop in minute detail or about where we should go on date night. Honestly, we talk way more about where we want to eat than we do painting technique.
Challenges of married painters.
Sarah: I think most people would imagine it would be a challenge to work so close to each other. But it’s actually a joy. Hopefully Dave says the same thing.
David: Her studio is an incredible mess. I am probably annoyingly neat. I like her disarray in the way opposites attract. Her nickname in art school was Demolition Dixie — and she still is. I get a kick out of it. There is always green oil paint on a door handle or orange in her hair, or a paint rag floating in the pool, or our pug has made off with some food from one of her still-life paintings.
Studio practices.
Sarah: Our day usually starts around 8:30 am and ends around 4:30 to 7 pm, depending on the light. We are equally hard workers and enjoy what we do. It’s nice to have our studios at home so we can just pop upstairs and stretch a canvas or sign a painting if we need to.
David: We work all the time. People have a romantic idea of painters only working when inspiration strikes. We work more like junior associates in a big law firm or an investment bank. But we love it. It’s definitely more passion than work.
On your differences.
Sarah: It’s very obvious to most people who see our studios that Dave is extremely neat and I am a mess! He says I keep his OCD in check.
David: She is spontaneous in her paintings. I am meticulous. I think an artist’s personality comes through in their brushwork. Her feelings are faithfully and beautifully recorded in tactile, fluid and sublime strokes. She is rightly famous for her paint handling. Conversely, I try to make myself invisible and suppress my hand to let the portrait subject do all the talking.
Epiphanies.
Sarah: Age 12, Andrew Wyeth’s Helga portraits at the Corcoran. I was already familiar with Christina’s World, but this was such a different experience. All of those skillfully done portraits and nudes. . . To see how realistically he was painting with tempera and watercolor was eye-opening.”
David: I saw Albrecht Dürer’s self-portrait (from 1500) in Art History 101. From that moment on, I have wanted to paint people.
Artists who inspire.
Sarah: William Nicholson, Henri Fantin-Latour, Emil Carlsen, Joaquín Sorolla, Andrew Wyeth, Claudio Bravo, Wayne Theibaud, the Peale family of Philadelphia.
David: Sargent, Velázquez, Vermeer and Waylon Jennings.
Accolades, upcoming, and on the easel.
Sarah: I’ve been busy with commissions, and when I’m not doing commissions, I’m usually painting shells, which I am very into these days. Two are actually for a big boat — the primary bedroom. I became a conchophiliac after a family trip to see friends in Boca Grande, Florida.
There is a charming outdoor library there that houses the most amazing shell collection. The Johann Fust Library Foundation is where my shell obsession began. I think I love to paint them because each one is so different in texture, shape and color — smooth, shiny, rough and ridged, matte, chalky, pearlescent. And, unlike most of my subject matter (flowers and game) they don’t change, start to smell, or die on me, so I can take my time drawing and painting them.
David: I have been painting portraits for both private families and institutions. Among the more recent commissions for Houstonians are a just finished portrait of Secretary James Baker [for Baker Botts’ 185th anniversary], a recently unveiled portrait of Rev. Russ Levenson for St. Martin’s Church, and an upcoming painting of Rosie Carrabba for the restaurant. Jill Biden announced in her recent memoir that she selected me to paint her official portrait as First Lady for the White House.
I’ve also been asked to paint two very important portraits for the Texas Capitol building in Austin. They have not been unveiled yet, so I won’t say more than that at the moment. But they will be my first in our capitol, and I’m very honored and humbled to be doing them.
I have a couple others that are exciting but have had to sign NDAs. The world is becoming so private. It’s hard to share.
Best part of Houston and the move from the Northeast.
Sarah: I had been coming to Houston every other year since 1999 for shows at Meredith Long & Company before we bought a house here in 2014. My art collectors became my friends and then became collectors of Dave’s work. We fell in love with the food scene, the unbelievable museums, the cultural diversity of Houston, but most of all, the people.
David: When asked why we moved here, I say it was Hugo’s mezcal margaritas. That’s actually more than partly true. The late Meredith Long and his iconic gallery is the other reason we are here. He had a great eye and was a big fan of Sarah’s work.
Then, once we started to meet Houstonians, it was all over. We intended to spend a winter and have been here well over a decade.
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