I have always been sceptical of the theory that portraits reveal the soul of the sitter. However, looking at Celia Montague’s painting of me, I can see that it is, in its way, a record of the sittings and the high good humour, the amusing anecdotes, the many lively hours that went into the painting. And there’s something else I want to draw your attention to.

When Jacques Emile-Blanche was painting James Joyce, Joyce adjured the painter not to bother about his soul and to concentrate on getting his tie right. I am wearing black silk, somewhere between a scarf and a tie. At first, you are so concentrated on the face, naturally enough, that you might not notice the bravura rendering of the black silk. So swift, it seems, yet so exact. As good as Manet, another master painter of black. I wouldn’t want you to miss it.
 
Craig Raine
14 April 2023

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