He’s a natural—David Attenborough picture is star of the show at Royal Society portrait display

Portrait painting takes a bow at the Royal Society of Portrait Painters’ Annual Exhibition which opens today in London at Mall Galleries (4-13 May). The 132nd annual exhibition will feature around 230 portraits—many for sale—curated by artist members of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters. Celebrity images abound in the show with pics on display of the newsreader Clive Myrie, the musician William Ellis, and a sombre image of the actor Richard E. Grant by Wendy Barratt called Grief. The biggest draw at the portrait exhibition will no doubt be a picture of national treasure David Attenborough commissioned by the BBC. This spirited likeness of the revered broadcaster and naturalist comes courtesy of the artist David Cobley who told Bristol Live: “Just as artists try and show things from a different point of view, Sir David has shown us life from a plant’s perspective, from the miniature eye of an ant, from a polar bear on a drifting ice floe.” Meanwhile, for those who think portraiture is a dying art, Anthony Connolly, the president of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters, has a lively riposte, saying in a statement: “Portrait painting is alive and kicking. It is skateboarding, surfing and untethered. It has never been more energised.”