Widow looking for answers after Quebec man dies in Texas Ironman competition
The widow of a Quebec man who died competing in an Ironman competition is looking for answers.
A rare portrait of Diana, Princess of Wales, will be on public display for the first time after it was recently sold at auction.
The oil sketch, a preparatory study for a formal full-length portrait by American artist Nelson Shanks, was completed in 1994, three years before Diana's death in Paris. It made headlines in January, when it was sold at a Sotheby's auction for US$201,600 -- more than ten times its original estimate.
In the study, the late princess, whose eyes are cast downwards, appears deep in thought. The sketch was one of several used to capture "authentic expressions" that would eventually be used as source material for the final portrait, according to a press release from Philip Mould & Company, the London-based gallery showcasing the work at the Masterpiece London Art Fair, from June 30 to July 6.
She is depicted wearing Shanks' original choice for an outfit, a Catherine Walker green velvet halter dress that she was also photographed in for a spread in Vanity Fair's June 1997 issue. She would later change into a more traditional white blouse and blue skirt for the final portrait. It was hung at the royal residence of Kensington Palace, and later in Diana's family home in Althorp, about 90 miles northwest of London.
The final portrait took more than 30 sittings, held at Shanks' London studio. Those sessions became an occasion of relief for Diana during a troubled period in her life that saw her marriage to Prince Charles crumble. She became friends with the artist and his wife, Leona, and later confided in a letter that "coming to the studio was a safe haven, so full of love and support."
Shanks, who passed away in 2015, was world-renowned for his portraits, having painted the likes of U.S. President Ronald Reagan, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, opera singer Luciano Pavarotti and Pope John Paul II. His official portrait of U.S. President Bill Clinton hangs at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C.
"As royal painted portraits go, it is extraordinarily rare for an artist to capture both the public and private character simultaneously," gallerist Philip Mould is quoted as saying in the press release. "Shank's sketch uniquely fuses Diana's glamour with the affecting pathos of her final years. We felt it belonged in a British collection and are delighted to be able to display it in her home city."
The widow of a Quebec man who died competing in an Ironman competition is looking for answers.
Facing pushback from physicians and businesspeople over the coming increase to the capital gains inclusion rate, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his deputy Chrystia Freeland are standing by their plan to target Canada's highest earners.
Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair says that what's happening now in a trash-littered federal park in Quebec is a perfect metaphor for how the Trudeau government runs things.
People living near a wildfire burning about 15 kilometres southwest of Peace River are being told to evacuate their homes.
The world is seeing a near breakdown of international law amid flagrant rule-breaking in Gaza and Ukraine, multiplying armed conflicts, the rise of authoritarianism and huge rights violations in Sudan, Ethiopia and Myanmar, Amnesty International warned Wednesday as it published its annual report.
Police are investigating after a transport truck collided with a train in Sarnia.
As some family doctors are retiring and others are moving away from family medicine, there are fewer medical students to take their place.
Individuals being barred from entering Ontario’s legislature while wearing a keffiyeh say the garment is part of their cultural identity— and the only ones making it political are the politicians banning it.
United States authorities who have been searching for a pair of missing kayakers from British Columbia since the weekend have recovered two bodies in the nearby San Juan Islands of Washington state.
The giant stone statues guarding the Lions Gate Bridge have been dressed in custom Vancouver Canucks jerseys as the NHL playoffs get underway.
A local Oilers fan is hoping to see his team cut through the postseason, so he can cut his hair.
A family from Laval, Que. is looking for answers... and their father's body. He died on vacation in Cuba and authorities sent someone else's body back to Canada.
A former educational assistant is calling attention to the rising violence in Alberta's classrooms.
The federal government says its plan to increase taxes on capital gains is aimed at wealthy Canadians to achieve “tax fairness.”
At 6'8" and 350 pounds, there is nothing typical about UBC offensive lineman Giovanni Manu, who was born in Tonga and went to high school in Pitt Meadows.
Kevin the cat has been reunited with his family after enduring a harrowing three-day ordeal while lost at Toronto Pearson International Airport earlier this week.
Molly Knight, a Grade 4 student in Nova Scotia, noticed her school library did not have many books on female athletes, so she started her own book drive in hopes of changing that.
Almost 7,000 bars of pure gold were stolen from Pearson International Airport exactly one year ago during an elaborate heist, but so far only a tiny fraction of that stolen loot has been found.