Unveiling spotlights a recently completed portrait commission or figurative work from some of the best and most active members of the Portrait Society of America. This month Krystle Stricklin, guest writer for the Portrait Society, interviewed Alexandra Tyng about her recently completed portrait commission of Wendy White.

Alexandra Tyng: Portrait of Wendy White

By Krystle Stricklin

This past spring, Philadelphia-based artist Alexandra Tyng completed a new commissioned portrait for a private collector and close friend, Wendy White. The three quarter-length portrait features White dressed in a vibrant floral-print dress, relaxing in her verdant, backyard garden—a place of sanctuary and personal meaning. Warm and inviting, the work perfectly captures the openness and intimacy between the artist and her sitter, and the natural feeling of being
mid-conversation with a friend.

On her relationship with White, Tyng says, “We have been close friends for more than 35 years and our first children (daughters) were born within a few months of each other. Our families have remained close. When I was building my portrait practice, I painted Wendy’s daughter as a sample and gift, and Wendy’s husband, Rob, was instrumental in getting me commissions to paint several portraits for the University of Pennsylvania. So, it was natural that Rob thought of asking me to paint Wendy.” Faced with pandemic restrictions for meeting indoors, it was both timely and natural to have White pose outside, surrounded by her own creation—her garden. Wendy White, oil on linen, 34 x 28”

Echoing the foliage of her garden, the portrait features White nestled in the corner of a wooden porch, with her daisy-patterned dress softly spread around her. For the dress, Tyng used several layers of paint, reworking it in different ways to get the pattern just right. On the broader inspiration for the composition, she explains, “I wanted to convey a lot of things about Wendy through her expression. First, her personality: She has a great sense of fun and an ability to connect with people and put them at ease. One of the most important and challenging things was to imply her spontaneous laugh without actually painting her laughing.” Second, Tyng wanted to convey their long and cherished friendship. She says, “When our daughters were little, Wendy and I both enjoyed doing projects together for them. Our families vacationed together in Maine, hiking, swimming, making s’mores around the fire, celebrating birthdays. The best way to put all this emotion and memory into a painting is to keep it simple and nonspecific, and to let Wendy communicate with the viewer with myself as a conduit.”

Tyng’s work has been featured in numerous books as well as both national and international publications, and her paintings can be found in the permanent collections of the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C., the Springfield Art Museum, the New Britain Museum of American Art, and in many public and private collections. A longtime member of the Portrait Society, Tyng is a dedicated leader and mentor in the society’s Cecilia Beaux Forum, a committee created to strengthen the role of women artists by providing programs and resources to enhance the public’s knowledge and appreciation of their work.

Recently, she has been working on her next commissioned portrait and paintings for several galleries. Two of her newest figure paintings will portray an interpretation of the goddess Venus and her family as contemporary figures. Those works will be included in her upcoming one-person show at the Gross McCleaf Gallery in Philadelphia this December. —