Imagine receiving a call from the U.S. State Department to hear that former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton wants you to paint her portrait. That’s exactly what happened to New York-based artist Steven Polson in 2019. “When I met Hillary Clinton at our first meeting, she told me that she was familiar with my work and knew many of my sitters,” Polson recalls. This past September, Polson’s portrait of Secretary Clinton was finally unveiled at a ceremony in the Benjamin Franklin Room of the Truman Building in Washington, D.C., with former President Bill Clinton and current Secretary of State Antony Blinken in attendance.
Steven Polson, U.S. Secretary of State Collection, U.S. Department of State Washington, D.C., oil on canvas.
“When the project started,” Polson says, “I had recalled the last time the Secretary had been frequently televised, which was during the 2016 campaign for President. The Stars and Stripes seemed to show up repeatedly in the backgrounds of the conventions, debates, etc. When I mentioned the possibility of the U.S. flag in the portrait, she liked the idea.” Polson then purchased an 8-foot-by-12-foot flag and posed the Secretary close enough to cast a shadow on it. He says, “The company that supplies the flags warned me that they often arrive with creases from folding and puckered seams, but that they iron out beautifully. However, I decided it was more interesting just out of the box.”
The effect is compelling and adds a captivating dimensional layer to the work. About his process, Polson explains, “I work from a combination of life and photographs. Before meeting a new client, I do research. By the first sitting, I have a rough idea of pose, clothing and background, but often this is only a starting point, because a live, moving, talking human being experienced in three-dimensional space will spark new ideas.”
After presenting a sketch of the composition to the client, Polson proceeds with the final work. Whether a head of state or a small child, Polson’s method varies little. “There are more constraints for official portraits: sizes of the work and clothing and background should not stray too far from convention,” says Polson. “Other than that, I approach a Secretary of State or young child very much the same way, which is that I am commissioned to make a painting of someone who is loved and admired, whoever it may be.”
Polson has painted many notable American figures including Madeleine Albright, Donald Rumsfeld, Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice. Currently, he is working on several new commissions, including a government official, a minister, a banker and university donors. —
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