Frances Bell

Courtesy of the artist and ARC.

First Place Portraiture in the 18th International ARC Salon® online exhibition;

17th & 18th International ARC Salon® Exhibition at Sotheby's New York, July 17-27, 2026.

Art Renewal Center, International Realism: 17th & 18th International ARC Salons (Woodbridge, UK: ACC Art Books Ltd, 2026), p. 87, illustrated.

“Miriam is a fellow portrait artist and friend. She came to my studio and sat for me over 3 days. I used those days to lay in a base and to concentrate on laying in the head from life, and later to finish the painting in the studio over the subsequent weeks. Miriam and I have done many non-painting projects together. But it's never before been just us sitting down with paint brushes and canvas and seeing what comes. I wanted to do that and am grateful that Miriam agreed.

This painting is about Miriam's vein of symbolism, her love of ideas and intellection, and her wide knowledge of the practice we share. I have a totally different style to Miriam, but we both share a passion for portraiture of all styles, of which we talked as I painted.

Miriam won the BP award in 2018, with Ange and My Table. There are references in composition and symbolism in this painting to the one of her mother that showed in 2018.” – Frances Bell