Finley Brothers
Renaissance (2017) began its life as Miles Finley Esq. (1965). The original portrait of my grandfather, Miles (1912-2008) was completed by his older brother, Robert Finley (1910-1972). He referred to his brother as smiley, thus the exaggerated mouth. During the Second World War, both brothers served in the Australian Army as photographers. They continued to work in this profession after the war.
They were both visual artists who both favoured landscape scenes. In a digression from his usual work and inspired by his brother, Robert painted Miles Finley Esq. (1965). In 1986, he was post-humously honoured through the establishment of the annual Robert Finley Awards in Western Australia.
Restoration
While I have restored several by Miles’ paintings and created a joint work Collaboration (1971-2017), I have not altered his paintings.
In the case of Miles Finley Esq. (1965), Robert had not truly finished the portrait and it needed to be corrected.
Renaissance (2017)
My grandfather had stored Miles Finley Esq. (1965) in his darkroom for many years because he did not like the colours, especially the pink of the skin tone. The painting was too flat and yet, the shadows seemed too strong for the composition, especially under the eyes.
Even so, I thought that Miles Finley Esq. (1965) had a sound structure to work with. I knew that with some corrections, I could bring the portrait to life as a keepsake for future generations.
The colours have been refreshed and elements which were technically inaccurate, such as the mouth, were corrected.
Preserving the Finley brothers’ work serves a dual purpose. Firstly, it keeps their art alive for future generations. Secondly, meticulously restoring their work has given me valuable experience in using colour and in creating visually interesting compositions.
The result is very different to the original piece by Robert Finley, however, the portrait looks more like my grandfather than before.