What unites the pop star Elton John, Britains King Charles III, the former French president François Mitterrand (1916-96), and Mr. & Mrs. Sharples, pigeon fanciers in Lancashire? They all sat for distinguished British painter Bryan Organ. Born in 1935, Organ studied art at Loughborough College of Art and Royal Academy Schools before setting out to pursue painting as a full-time career. He received his first commission in 1967, and since then monarchs, politicians, artists, designers, and business executives from around the world have asked him to paint them. His portrait of Princess Diana attracted more than 100,000 visitors within the first 72 hours on public display in 1981. No other contemporary artist is represented with more works in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery in London. Yet, remarkably, no full-scale monograph on Bryan Organ has been published to date. BryanOrgan: Picturing People fills this gap, featuring around 80 of his portraits in full-page plates, alongside preliminary studies and numerous works in other genres, such as animal paintings, still lifes, and designs for album covers. Essays on his life and art by critic Charlotte Mullins, the directors of Holburne Museum in Bath, Chris Stephens, and Londons Victoria & Albert Museum, Tristram Hunt, and journalist and news anchorman Jon Snow round off this entertaining and illuminating volume.

Charlotte Mullins is a British art critic, writer, and broadcaster. She is the art critic for Country Life and contributes to magazines and newspapers such as the Financial Times, Telegraph, Independent on Sunday, RA Magazine, Art in America, and Tate Magazine. Her latest book, A Little History of Art, was published in 2022. Chris Stephens is the director of the Holburne Museum in Bath. He was previously Head of Displays and Head of Modern British Art at Tate Britain in London. Tristram Hunt is a British historian and broadcaster, and, since 2017, director of Londons Victoria & Albert Museum. He served as a Member of Parliament for the Labour Party in 2010-17 and as Shadow Secretary of State for Education, 2013-15. Jon Snow is a British journalist and renowned television presenter. He was the anchorman of Channel 4 news programs from 1989-2021.