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TONIGHT RTÉ WILL air a new documentary called Portrait of a Gallery, which will illustrate what went on behind the scenes during the National Art Gallery’s massive €30 million refurbishment.
The observational documentary will no doubt be packed with interesting information and statistics on the gallery, but the previews that RTÉ have released suggest that there may be a few laughs in there too. One of these funny moments is Graham Norton’s mother Rhoda Walker reacting to the unveiling of his portrait.
On seeing the portrait, Graham’s mam made a comment to Gareth Reid, the artist behind the painting.
She said “You didn’t flatter him, mind you.” Norton was immediately mortified and said “There’s no need for flattery – thank you Gareth.” She insisted that she knew Gareth was a very good artist while Graham laughed, clearly embarrassed.
Graham and his brazen mother agreed that the painting was great, but she managed to get another dig in. “It’s so informal looking…”, to which another observer said “I sense there’s a ‘but’ coming.” Rhoda said “No! There’s no ‘but’” to which Graham interjected “I’ll email you”, expecting that his mother will probably find a fault later on.
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The painting is pretty informal indeed. It’s not often we see Graham Norton out of a suit and more than a few metres away from the red couch. It was revealed in a very typically Irish coincidence that the artist, Gareth Reid, had unknowingly been related to Norton.
Gareth did the portrait after winning Sky Arts’ competition ‘Portrait Artist of the Year’.
After scooping up the £10,000 prize and opportunity to paint Graham Norton, he shared this anecdote with Sky.
I still can’t quite take in the chances of me, out of all the people who entered, getting the opportunity to paint Graham, out of all the people they could have chosen, and it turning out we’re third cousins. As Graham aptly put it, “I’m embarrassed for Ireland”. He is genuinely a lovely guy and he took [my partner] Suzy and me out for dinner after the unveiling.
Here’s the video of Graham’s mam in action.
"You didn't flatter him". Graham Norton's mother tells is as she sees it tonight on Portrait of a Gallery at 9.35pm @NGIrelandpic.twitter.com/B1jhnFyvts
Tuesday 19 November, 2024
Tuesday 19 November, 2024
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Graham Norton's mother reacted like a typical Irish mam at the unveiling of his portrait in Dublin
TONIGHT RTÉ WILL air a new documentary called Portrait of a Gallery, which will illustrate what went on behind the scenes during the National Art Gallery’s massive €30 million refurbishment.
The observational documentary will no doubt be packed with interesting information and statistics on the gallery, but the previews that RTÉ have released suggest that there may be a few laughs in there too. One of these funny moments is Graham Norton’s mother Rhoda Walker reacting to the unveiling of his portrait.
On seeing the portrait, Graham’s mam made a comment to Gareth Reid, the artist behind the painting.
She said “You didn’t flatter him, mind you.” Norton was immediately mortified and said “There’s no need for flattery – thank you Gareth.” She insisted that she knew Gareth was a very good artist while Graham laughed, clearly embarrassed.
Graham and his brazen mother agreed that the painting was great, but she managed to get another dig in. “It’s so informal looking…”, to which another observer said “I sense there’s a ‘but’ coming.” Rhoda said “No! There’s no ‘but’” to which Graham interjected “I’ll email you”, expecting that his mother will probably find a fault later on.
The painting is pretty informal indeed. It’s not often we see Graham Norton out of a suit and more than a few metres away from the red couch. It was revealed in a very typically Irish coincidence that the artist, Gareth Reid, had unknowingly been related to Norton.
Gareth did the portrait after winning Sky Arts’ competition ‘Portrait Artist of the Year’.
After scooping up the £10,000 prize and opportunity to paint Graham Norton, he shared this anecdote with Sky.
Here’s the video of Graham’s mam in action.
If you are having trouble playing that video, try this link.
You can watch Portrait of a Gallery on RTÉ One tonight at 9.35pm.
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