I am very happy! Kate is a brave face when the "rotten" is what the critic sees official portrait

Painting is sure to be divisive - but Kate is said to be 'thrilled' with it

The Duchess is shown grimacing rather than smiling

Hair has a coppery tinge and there are shadows and lines under her eyes

Artist wanted to capture her 'charm, serenity and intelligence

"rotten"

Beauty, they say, is in the eye of the beholder.
But as the Duchess of Cambridge’s first official portrait was unveiled to the public yesterday, art critics were, unusually, largely united in their condemnation.
‘Ghastly ... rotten ... an out and out disaster,’ was the view of the editor of the British Art Journal, Robin Simon

"rotten"

.

Their muse: The Duchess introduces her husband to artist Paul Emsley after viewing his portrait at the National Portrait Gallery

‘It’s only saving grace is that it’s not by Rolf Harris,’ was the best that David Lee, now editor of The Jackdaw and a former editor of Art Review, could manage.
Kate, on her first official outing for almost a month, was far more polite. ‘It’s just amazing. Absolutely brilliant,’ she told the artist, Paul Emsley, when she met him at the National Portrait Gallery, where the picture will hang.

Her husband, Prince William, nodded sagely. ‘It’s beautiful, it’s absolutely beautiful,’ he concurred.
From others, however, the biggest criticism seemed to be the generally ageing nature of the portrait, which took three and a half months to produce.
Most seemed to think it makes the duchess, who turned 31 this week, look at least 15 years older

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