Gifts for people who have everything: 12 one of a kind portraits
They have the gadgets, the candles and the cashmere. What they do not have is their cats painted like a Kahler, their greyhound like a Landseer or their house like a Turner. Twelve masterworks behind Fable’s portrait styles.
The person who has everything has, almost by definition, everything that can be bought off a shelf. The only gifts left are ones that did not exist until you made them.
A portrait of what they love is one of those. Each of the twelve masterworks below is the starting point of one of Fable’s portrait styles: dogs, cats, horses, a rider, a house and even a bouquet. Send a photo, see a free preview in that style, and the result is a picture nobody else in the world owns.
1. Tama, the Japanese Dog
Édouard Manet, Tama, the Japanese Dog, c. 1875. Oil on canvas. National Gallery of Art, Washington.
Tama was a Japanese Chin brought back from Japan by the critic Théodore Duret, and Manet painted him around 1875 with quick, confident strokes. A small dog painted with enormous personality.
Best photo: a small dog standing, looking alert, on a plain floor.
Create your portrait in this style
2. Eos
Edwin Landseer, Eos, 1841. Oil on canvas.
Eos was Prince Albert’s favourite greyhound, and Landseer painted her as a Christmas present for him from Queen Victoria in 1841. A royal precedent for giving a dog portrait.
Best photo: a tall, slim dog standing side on.
Create your portrait in this style
3. White Poodle in a Punt
George Stubbs, White Poodle in a Punt, c. 1780. Oil on canvas.
Stubbs painted this white poodle standing in a punt on a river around 1780, a wonderfully strange and charming picture. It works for any curly coated dog.
Best photo: a dog standing, seen from the side, against a plain background.
Create your portrait in this style
4. Three Black Cats
Carl Kahler, Three Black Cats, Late 19th century. Oil on canvas.
Carl Kahler was the great Victorian painter of cats, and these three black cats on a gilded table look as if they own the house, which they probably did.
Best photo: up to three cats, or separate photos of each cat.
Create your portrait in this style
5. My Wife's Lovers
Carl Kahler, My Wife's Lovers, 1891–1893. Oil on canvas.
Kahler’s most famous picture: forty-two cats belonging to a San Francisco millionaire’s wife, painted over three years. It is the most extravagant cat portrait ever made.
For the household with many cats.
Create your portrait in this style
6. Head of a white horse
Théodore Géricault, Head of a white horse, c. 1815. Oil on canvas. Musée du Louvre, Paris.
Géricault was obsessed with horses, and his studies of horses’ heads in the stable are among the most powerful animal portraits of the Romantic era. This one is in the Louvre.
Best photo: a close up of the horse’s head, lit from one side.
Create your portrait in this style
7. Horsewoman (Amazon)
Alfred de Dreux, Horsewoman (Amazon), 1848. Oil on canvas.
Alfred de Dreux painted elegant riders for the French and English aristocracy. His horsewoman sits side-saddle on a white horse, cool and poised.
Best photo: the rider on her horse, seen from the side.
Create your portrait in this style
8. A King Charles Spaniel
Édouard Manet, A King Charles Spaniel, c. 1866. Oil on canvas. National Gallery of Art, Washington.
Manet painted this King Charles spaniel on a red cushion around 1866: small, dark and loose, with eyes that follow you. Pure elegance.
Best photo: a small dog sitting up, looking at the camera.
Create your portrait in this style
9. Bentheim Castle
Jacob van Ruisdael, Bentheim Castle, 1653. Oil on canvas. Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.
Jacob van Ruisdael painted Bentheim Castle more than a dozen times, raising its hill higher each time. The style built from it makes any house look like it belongs in a seventeenth century landscape.
Best photo: the house on rising ground, with lots of sky.
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10. Linlithgow Palace
J. M. W. Turner, Linlithgow Palace, 1806. Oil on canvas. Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool.
Turner painted the ruined palace of Linlithgow, birthplace of Mary, Queen of Scots, in golden haze in 1806. The style turns a home into a Romantic landscape.
Best photo: the house at a distance across water or fields.
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11. Roses
Vincent van Gogh, Roses, 1890. Oil on canvas. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
Van Gogh painted this great mass of roses in his last weeks at Saint-Rémy in 1890. The roses were pink when he painted them; the red has faded, leaving them white. The style built from it paints flowers from your own photo.
Best photo: a big bunch of flowers on a table, from their garden or their wedding.
Create your portrait in this style
12. Still Life with Pansies
Henri Fantin-Latour, Still Life with Pansies, 1874. Oil on canvas. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
Fantin-Latour was the most refined flower painter of his time. His pot of pansies, painted in 1874, is small, modest and exquisite. The style made from it can paint any flower in your photo.
Best photo: a single pot of flowers, lit from one side.
Create your portrait in this style
The trick is choosing the subject: the pet they talk about most, the horse they ride every weekend, the house they spent ten years restoring. Find a good photo, match it to a masterwork, and see the free preview.
Questions
What do you buy someone who has everything?
Something made only for them, such as a portrait of their pet, horse or home from a photo. It cannot be duplicated, and it is about what they love rather than what they own.
Do I need a professional photo?
No. A clear phone photo in daylight works well. The subject should be in focus and fill a good part of the frame.
Can I order a framed portrait as a gift?
Yes. Portraits can be ordered as fine art prints or canvas in several sizes, or as a digital file to frame yourself.