Nelson Shanks is a portrait painter, with one his most famous works being his portrait of Princess Diana, The Princess of Wales, completed in 1996. For this Diana sat for more than 35 hours, and he spent another 100 hours on its completion. Among his other famous subjects are Ronald Reagan, Luciano Pavarotti, Margaret Thatcher, Bill Clinton, Pope John Paul II, the King and Queen of Sweden and Queen Juliana of the Netherlands. In addition, Shanks does figure paintings, many of them of enigmatic seeming women whose expressions raise questions, whose props include still life, and whose depictions have varying textures, lighting effects and colors.

Shanks has spent his career as a spokesperson for Realism. Of this dedication...