# Andrew Festing > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Andrew_Festing > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Andrew_Festing.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Festing > Source revision: 1338572318 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|British artist (born 1941)}} {{BLP sources|date=October 2016}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Infobox artist | name = Andrew Festing | image = | imagesize = | caption = | birth_name = Andrew Festing | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=y|1941|11|30}} | birth_place = [Northumberland](/source/Northumberland), [United Kingdom](/source/United_Kingdom) | death_date = | death_place = | field = [Painting](/source/Painting) | movement = | works = | patrons = | awards = }} '''Andrew Thomas Festing''' [MBE](/source/Order_of_the_British_Empire) [PPRP](/source/Royal_Society_of_Portrait_Painters) (born 30 November 1941) is a British [portrait painter](/source/portrait_painter), and fellow and former president of the [Royal Society of Portrait Painters](/source/Royal_Society_of_Portrait_Painters). ==Life== Andrew Festing was born on 30 November 1941, the third son of four boys of Field Marshal Sir [Francis Festing](/source/Francis_Festing) and Mary Cecilia Riddell.Pery (2015), p. 6{{cite book|editor1-last=Hume|editor1-first=Lucy|title=People of Today 2017|date=2017|publisher=Debrett's|isbn=9781999767037|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oAM7DwAAQBAJ&q=%22andrew+festing%22+mbe&pg=PA7589|accessdate=31 January 2018}} He was brought up in Northumberland, and educated at [Ampleforth College](/source/Ampleforth_College) and [Royal Military Academy Sandhurst](/source/Royal_Military_Academy_Sandhurst).Pery (2015), pp. 15, 20, 22, 28, 30 He was commissioned into [The Rifle Brigade (Prince Consort's Own)](/source/The_Rifle_Brigade_(Prince_Consort's_Own)), part of [The Royal Green Jackets](/source/The_Royal_Green_Jackets) from 1966, in 1961 where he served until 1969.{{citation needed|date=October 2016}} In 1968 he married Virginia Fyffe, and has one daughter – Charlotte – and two grandchildren.{{citation needed|date=October 2016}} Festing worked at [Sotheby's](/source/Sotheby's) in 1969 and was head of the British Pictures Department from 1977–1981, where he became Sotheby’s chief expert for British Pictures, with specialist knowledge of portrait painting over the last 400 years.{{citation needed|date=October 2016}} He painted many portraits whilst in the army and at Sotheby's, and took up full-time portrait painting in 1981. Festing became a member of the [Royal Society of Portrait Painters](/source/Royal_Society_of_Portrait_Painters) (RP) in 1989,Pery (2015), p. 114 and was President (PRP) from 2002–2008. In 2008, he was made a [Member of the Order of the British Empire](/source/Member_of_the_Order_of_the_British_Empire) (MBE) for services to the arts.{{cite web|title=MP and health trust are knighted|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/tyne/7453226.stm|website=BBC News|access-date=22 January 2018|date=13 June 2008|quote=Others to be honoured include Andrew Festing. from Hexham, who is president of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters and is made an MBE for services to art.}} In 2010 he was also awarded an Honorary [Doctorate of Letters](/source/Doctor_of_Letters) from [Northumbria University](/source/Northumbria_University).{{cite web |url=http://www.northumbria.ac.uk/static/insightarchive/1710445?facebox=1 |title=Honorary degrees for brothers| date=21 July 2010 | publisher = Northumbria University |quote=Andrew Festing was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Letters. He is one of the country's most distinguished portrait painters and a fellow and former President of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters. | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120329115145/http://www.northumbria.ac.uk/static/insightarchive/1710445?facebox=1 |archive-date=29 March 2012}} Notable commissions include [Queen Elizabeth II](/source/Queen_Elizabeth_II) and other members of the [British royal family](/source/British_royal_family) on a number of occasions; official portraits of the [House of Commons of the United Kingdom](/source/House_of_Commons_of_the_United_Kingdom) and the [House of Lords](/source/House_of_Lords) in session; official portraits of Speakers Boothroyd and Martin; four group portraits of English cricket players in the last 40 years for [Lord's](/source/Lord's); six group portraits of the staff at [Holkham Hall](/source/Holkham_Hall) in [Norfolk](/source/Norfolk).{{sfn|Hiskey|2016|p=9}} Festing has painted some 750 portraits in the last 30 years.{{citation needed|date=October 2016}} His portraits can be found in the Royal Collections, the [National Portrait Gallery](/source/National_Portrait_Gallery_(London)), the [National Gallery of Ireland](/source/National_Gallery_of_Ireland), [The Palace of Westminster](/source/The_Palace_of_Westminster) and many of the major private and public collections in [Britain](/source/United_Kingdom).{{citation needed|date=October 2016}} He exhibited annually at the [Royal Society of Portrait Painters](/source/Royal_Society_of_Portrait_Painters).{{citation needed|date=October 2016}} Festing also paints landscapes, still lifes and watercolours.{{citation needed|date=October 2016}} He has studios in central [London](/source/London) and in [Northumberland](/source/Northumberland).{{citation needed|date=October 2016}} == References == {{Reflist}} ==Sources== * {{cite book |last=Hiskey|first=Christine |title=Holkham: the social, architectural and landscape history of a great English country house |url=https://search.worldcat.org/title/957507712?oclcNum=957507712 |year=2016 |location=Norwich |publisher=Unicorn Press |isbn= 978-1-910-06598-3 }} *{{cite book|last1=Pery|first1=Jenny|title=Andrew Festing : Face Value|date=2015|publisher=Third Millennium Publishing|isbn=9781908990518}} ==External links== * [https://web.archive.org/web/20111103130222/http://www.therp.co.uk/rp-artists/artist/andrew-festing-pp-rb-mbe/ Andrew Festing PPRP MBE] - website of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters * {{Art UK bio}} {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Festing, Andrew}} Category:Living people Category:20th-century British painters Category:British male painters Category:21st-century British painters Category:1941 births Andrew Category:Fortescue family Category:Graduates of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst Category:Members of the Order of the British Empire Category:People educated at Ampleforth College Category:British portrait painters --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Andrew Festing](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Festing) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Festing?action=history)). 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