We want to get to know you more to help improve our service. Please take 2 minutes to fill out our survey here. Thank you! test2

Discover content and watch films on our latest and improved iOS app. Download it here!

This film is part of Free

Portrait by Emmanuel Levy

Capturing an image - a picture of an accomplished portrait painter at work.

Amateur film 1951 7 mins Silent

From the collection of:

Logo for North West Film Archive

Overview

Not everyone is lucky enough to have their portrait painted, but in this charming colour film, filmmaker George Wain records his daughter Judith sitting for the Manchester born painter Emmanuel Levy. This is a fascinating look at the work of an accomplished artist, and his young sitter is justifiably happy with the completed artwork, which perfectly captures her stillness and poise.

Emmanuel Levy (1900 - 1986) studied at the Manchester School of Art, and exhibited in the city between 1925 and 1963. Lecturing in art in the 1950s and 1960s, he was also for a while an art critic at the main regional newspaper, the Manchester Evening News.