A Room with a View
Risette Restaurant exhibits works by London-based artist Lydia Cecil
Lydia Cecil is a representational artist who works between the UK and Malta. Cecil studied at the London Atelier of Representational Art and has exhibited across the UK, in Malta, Florence and Samoa. She currently works as a tutor for Raw Umber Studios and College Arts, and is represented by Cicek Gallery in London.
Cecil’s work is based on studies from life. She delves into the character of a portrait sitter, arranges contemporary still lives, and uses the alternating backdrops of the UK and Malta for her figurative work. These works capture ordinary, unscripted moments with an originality away from idealisation or objectification.
Unlike the room of the famous E.M. Forster book with its sun-soaked Italian inferences, this room is set in a house near the Dorset coast in southern England. Charming in a dilapidated way, the eaves slope from the single window whose light doesn’t quite penetrate to the back. The old wooden furniture has seen better days, and the fireplace feels forgotten. Dusty books and mirrors speak of old status, while taped up paper drawings, of young eccentricity. Even while the wall paint cracks, its colour shifts under the light sources – from a cool, hazy blue from the soft British sun to a deeper, warm green under the artificial lamps. Standing amid the six large paintings, the room encases you. A single figure inhabits each canvas. Around the room, there are glances between them, into the mirrors, to the viewer. Each of the female-strong cast subtlety subverts the norm of how women are portrayed in traditional art. The only male is nude.
Slight shifts in perception can reveal our deep-rooted assumptions. The flies in our eyes. Or planks for those of you who prefer the Bible to Catch-22. After all, isn’t a dove a white pigeon?
Q&A with the artist, Lydia Cecil
Can you discuss your personal style of painting and which artists and themes inspire you?
My personal style of painting is continuingly developing but is based on my training as a representational artist and study of early twentieth century artists. The ones that have particularly influenced my style over the years (non exclusive) would be Philip de László, Anders Zorn, Cecilia Beaux, Berthe Morisot, Giulia Lama, and those who influence both my style and choice of subject include Olga Boznańska (who’s name appears on one of the book spines in ‘A Room with a View’), Artemesia Gentileschi, Kathe Kollwitz, Laura Knight and Elizabeth Butler. And Sebastian Tanti Burlὸ, who always reminds me to expand my artistic style outside the academic.
How do you go about deciding the composition and themes of each painting?
My themes tend to emerge as the paintings do. In general, I lean towards the depiction of women and reintroducing elements of the natural world back alongside (natural) people. But I don’t like ‘explaining’ themes or paintings. Whatever people think or feel when they see them is valid. To execute the paintings, there’s a fair amount of sketching and colour studies to work out composition and balance of values and colours. I constantly rearranged the room until I was happy. I used a variety of models and spent a long time photographing pigeons, who sadly don’t stay still long enough for me to paint. The paintings themselves each take about a month.
Why Malta?
For the last few years I have been spending a lot of time in Malta, and found an exciting artistic community and many who enthusiastically appreciate and talk about art. Matthew at Risette is a perfect example of this, and I’m very grateful to him for this collaboration with Risette.”
A Room with a View is on display at Casa Ellul, 81 Old Theatre Street, Valletta, until May 2025. www.lydiacecil.co.uk
