Portrait of Stephen Hawking
Date
2008
Sitter
Stephen William Hawking (1942 - 2018, British) , Theoretical physicist
Creator
Tai-Shan Schierenberg (1962, British) , Artist
Object type
Archive reference number
Material
Dimensions
height (painting): 1220mm
width (painting): 1120mm
width (painting): 1120mm
Subject
Description
Head and shoulders portrait of Stephen Hawking, looking directly to the viewer, his head tilted to the viewer’s left. His wheelchair headrest is immediately behind, making a black and white angled background. Hawking wears spectacles and is shown dressed in a dark jacket and grey shirt, open at the neck.
Profesor Stephen William Hawking (1942-2018), British theoretical physicist and cosmologist, was was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1974. He received the Society's Hughes Medal in 1976 for 'his distinguished contributions to the application of general relativity to astrophysics, especially to the behaviour of highly condensed matter', and its Copley Medal in 2006 for 'his outstanding contribution to theoretical physics and theoretical cosmology'.
Profesor Stephen William Hawking (1942-2018), British theoretical physicist and cosmologist, was was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1974. He received the Society's Hughes Medal in 1976 for 'his distinguished contributions to the application of general relativity to astrophysics, especially to the behaviour of highly condensed matter', and its Copley Medal in 2006 for 'his outstanding contribution to theoretical physics and theoretical cosmology'.
Object history
Presented by Dame Stephanie Shirley, 2009.
One of three portraits of Stephen Hawking executed for this 2008 commission, the others (one preliminary study and another finished work) were both on circular canvasses. [Images and associated e-mails from 2008, Royal Society provenance file]. The two completed portraits were shown to Stephen Hawking at the Cambridge Centre for Mathematical Studies on 22 January 2009. The Society’s picture was unveiled at the Society‘s Carlton House Terrace headquarters on 25 November 2009. [“New portraits at Carlton House Terrace”, by Keith Moore, Notes & Records of the Royal Society, vol.64 no.2 20 June 2010 pp.191-196].
One of three portraits of Stephen Hawking executed for this 2008 commission, the others (one preliminary study and another finished work) were both on circular canvasses. [Images and associated e-mails from 2008, Royal Society provenance file]. The two completed portraits were shown to Stephen Hawking at the Cambridge Centre for Mathematical Studies on 22 January 2009. The Society’s picture was unveiled at the Society‘s Carlton House Terrace headquarters on 25 November 2009. [“New portraits at Carlton House Terrace”, by Keith Moore, Notes & Records of the Royal Society, vol.64 no.2 20 June 2010 pp.191-196].
Associated place