Modern-Day Masters of Portraiture

Thomas Leveritt

In The Benyon Brothers (2010, above), the sons of a member of Parliament—a trio of teens and their two little brothers—are at home in an elegant interior hung with gold-framed paintings (all, slyly, miniature Leveritts). Instead of posing to match their elegant surroundings, these boys are, well, boys—lounging and loafing, perched rakishly on the sofa back with one foot on an armrest and reclining on the carpet to pore over stacks of books. By avoiding stiff “standing-by-the-mantel” poses, the artist confers a confident captain-of-industry aura on these junior leaders-to-be.

Raised in Dallas, Texas, and educated at Harrow and Cambridge, Leveritt takes a formal U.K. painting style and dresses it for U.S. casual Friday: “My American side brings a bit more of, ‘All right, fellas, let’s calm down about it,’” notes the artist.

Leveritt charges about $20,000 for a portrait. Contact him at his Web site.

Paintings courtesy of Thomas Leveritt