Hampstead and Highgate Express
Without sacrificing an ounce of vitality, the people painted by Alan Byrne have achieved craggy immortality. With a delicate use of line he pins down personality in a series of remarkable portraits. Every wrinkle is worked in a meticulous delineation that reveals as much about the spirit as the transient flesh.
Madelaine in a Fur Hat has an expressive air of acceptance, Julie is rock-like yet observed with sensitivity.
There is originality in his seascapes harnessing a sullen upsurge of water or hectic moments of flying foam.
Arts Review
Pen and ink drawings of interiors display an elegant, spare use of line, while a more atmospheric mood is evoked in a warmly shadowed pastel interior and there are some very tangible, tempting studies of fruit using crayon and collage.
Pride of place however, goes to his radiantly exotic portrait, “Yee Chong Painted in the Japanese Style”