Brill cream (A special occasion)
- Artist: Ravelle Pillay
- Date: 2025
- Medium: oil on canvas
- Dimensions: 98 3/8 in. x 78 3/4 in. (2500 mm x 2000 mm) overall
- Museum: The National Portrait Gallery
- Collection record: The National Portrait Gallery website
Listen to the free audio guide
About this artwork
Brill cream (A special occasion) is a sweeping oil‑on‑canvas portrait that reaches almost two meters tall and over a meter wide. The viewer meets a lively group of men—Ravelle Pillay’s father, Alan Michael Pillay, at 16 years old, framed by his brothers and cousins in the background. Pillay enlarges a small family snapshot into this massive canvas, letting each figure stretch across the surface while maintaining the original composition. Her brushwork is loose and expressive; thick gestural strokes meet the soft wash of a faded photograph, creating a layered texture that feels both contemporary and historic. The painting invites you to read the generations in one frame, seeing how memory and image merge through oil paint.
See it in person
Brill cream (A special occasion) is in the collection of The National Portrait Gallery at St Martin's Place, London — free to enter. Point your phone at any artwork there and audioguide.london plays a free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
