Sarah Raphael

She was an accomplished, assured draftsman. A survey of her work is provided by the book, Sarah Raphael Drawings, published by Carcanet Press Ltd, October 2004. As William Boyd has written of her figurative works, "You can tell how good they are yourself: you don't need the imprimatur of a gallery or a dealer or a patron."

She died from septicaemia following pneumonia, aged 40, on 10 January 2001.

Initially notable for her portraits, Raphael's paintings became progressively more abstract, especially evident through the series: Desert Paintings (mid-90s), STRIP! (1997) and Time Travel for Beginners (2000).

She has works hanging in the Metropolitan Museum in New York and in several large corporate collections as well as London's National Portrait Gallery. By 1995, she was so much in demand that her paintings were fetching £50,000

Of particular note of her prints (etchings and monotypes) are the Small Objects works, which relate to the STRIP! paintings. She illustrated books written by her father, Frederic, The Hidden I: A Myth Revisited in 1990 and Of Gods and Men in 1992.

Raphael married Nick McDowell in 1985 and they had three daughters.

Sarah was educated at Bedales School (Steep, Hampshire), and subsequently studied art at Camberwell School of Art, London, 1978 – 81, graduating with a First Class Honours Degree.

Sarah Natasha Raphael (10 August 1960 – 10 January 2001) was an English artist best known for her portraits and draughtsmanship.

Raphael was born on 10 August 1960 in East Bergholt, Suffolk – in the same birthplace village as John Constable, the renowned landscape painter, who was born in 1776. Her father is Frederic Raphael — screenwriter, novelist and journalist.