Born in 1947, at the age of seven he won the Daily Express National Children's Painting Competition, and at thirteen established his future direction in painting by attending Manchester High School of Art. At eighteen he continued his study of painting at St. Martin's School of Art, London.
Through numerous solo exhibitions spanning some thirty years as a professional painter, the artist is best known for his light-filled watercolours and exuberant colourful oils. His signature is his deceptive ease when capturing movement, whether in the flight of the dancer or the swiftness of a horse.
These qualities are evident in his portraits, where confidence and brevity of line render them both intimate and captivating.
Jake Sutton has exhibited regularly in London's Mayfair and Cork Street for the last thirty years. His work is in many collections around the world, including the Victorian and Albert Museum. He has exhibited with the Royal Watercolour society, The West of England Academy, The Bath Festival, Henley Festival and the Royal Society of Portrait Painters.
Royal Mail Stamps
Sutton was commissioned by Royal Mail to create four sporting motifs for a set of commemorative stamps. Following publication by Royal Mail, he appeared on the BBC programme Blue Peter. He subsequently designed first day covers for a set of US stamps.
In 1996 Sutton was commissioned by the Palace of Westminster to paint a series of paintings on the collective theme of 'Highlights of London'. 18 works were purchased for the House of Commons Permanent Collection.
Commissions
Jake Sutton has undertaken a variety of corporate commissions for companies including Conoco/Dupont, Schlumberger, IBM,The Times Newspaper, Mowlem and DERA.
BBC Proms
The artist was invited by the BBC to sketch musicians and conductors in rehearsal for the Promenade Concerts during a season at the Proms, with the resulting work forming a major London exhibition.
Theatre Museum, Victoria and Albert Museum
Following a tour with the Moscow State Circus the artist was the principal contributor to the exhibition 'Circus, Circus' at the Theatre Museum, Covent Garden, London.
The Victoria and Albert Museum purchased his work from this show for its permanent collection.
London Underground Poster
There is a history dating back to 1908 of London Transport commissioning leading contemporary artists to create paintings for poster images for display on London underground stations. Jake Sutton joins Man Ray, Paul Nash, Graham Sutherland and David Hockney among the ranks of artists commissioned to paint 'Underground Art'. Sutton's invitation to paint 'Simply London' afforded him free rein to select and compose a montague of images that are quintessentially London, for publication as a new millennium underground poster.
For 18 months Sutton worked with the Royal Opera House, attending rehearsal and productions of ballet and opera to create the Royal Opera House Collection.
'The Importance of Drawing from Life'
In 2005 'The Importance of Drawing from Life' was published. It gives a profile of the artist's painting career and reaffirms the importance of drawing.
250 pages. Full colour. Over 200 reproductions.
Hardback: ISBN 0 9549796 0 5
