Loaded Gunn

One of the best-paid painters in the world today is Britain's James Gunn, 60. As the nation's top society portraitist, he earns more than $50,000 a year painting such famous names and faces as Field Marshal Montgomery, the Duke of Edinburgh, U.S. Ambassador Winthrop Aldrich. Last week Gunn reached a climax of his career when his official state portrait of Queen Elizabeth took the place of honor at the new Royal Academy exhibition in London.

The critics greeted Gunn's latest effort with wintry disdain. But the public found his royal portrait even more of an attraction than Winston Churchill's four cheerfully unskilled contributions to the R.A. show. Gunn's work is nothing if not skilled, and it is as sumptuous as any chocolate-box cover.

To paint the picture, Gunn worked at Buckingham Palace for six months. The Queen posed only half a dozen times; for the rest he used previous sketches and a dummy made to her measurements and clothed in her coronation gown. Crown and scepter were delivered from the Tower of London as needed. The end result makes Elizabeth look every inch a queen, though with none of the sparkle and radiance that the camera caught during the coronation ceremonies. Says Gunn of his approach to his subject: "A portrait should be what the char sees. That's what I was aiming at."

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