Star Wars and Game of Thrones actor Oliver Ford Davies was special guest at the launch of a ‘must-see’ exhibition by the Royal Society of Portrait Painters at Watts Gallery in Compton.

A master class in the art of portraiture by some of the society’s best-known current talents, it also features high-profile stars from theatre, film, music and dance.

Oliver Ford Davies was playing King Lear in 2002 when he caught the eye of John Wonnacott CBE, a luminary of the Slade School of observational realism, and in his light-filled portrait he captures a commanding presence with warmth and intimacy.

The actor recalled it was a real labour of love with no question of simply striking a pose – the result of almost three years of the artist getting to know his subject at sittings held every three months in his studio at Leigh-on-Sea.

Wonnacott’s portraiture is in the tradition of leading late 19th/early 20th-century artist Sir William Orpen and the exhibition, The Show Goes On, runs alongside a major exhibition of Orpen’s art at Watts Gallery.

Linking the two at Saturday’s launch was another special guest, actress Suzannah Hamilton, who is Orpen’s great-grandaughter and has also loaned some of his key works.

Melissa Scott-Miller – another leading light of the Slade School of Art – is showing her engaging portrait of the actress for the first time.

Portraits in a wide range of media and styles are on show.

High-profile portraitist June Mendoza’s relaxed 1980s oil painting of Sammy Davis Junior, contrasts with the steely-eyed precision of James Hague’s gripping study of actor David Morrissey.

Acclaimed artist Martin Yeoman is represented by a powerful sketch of dancer Nikita and Antony Williams is showing a glorious portrait Antonia Looking Up.

By Beatrice Phillpotts

* The Show Goes on and William Orpen: Method & Mastery run until February 23 at Watts Gallery, Compton.

Oliver Ford Davies (left) is pictured next to his portrait with Watts director Alistair Burtenshaw. (Photo: Pete Gardner).