Soutine and Michael May

A couple of weeks ago I introduced you to a restaurant called Soutine in St John's Wood, London and showed you some of the paintings that adorn the walls.

However at the time of writing the blog I didn't know the name of the artist. Thanks to Julie of Melbourne and her research skills we now know that the walls at Soutine were painted by a Michael May. But which Michael May? I have found at least two artists who go by that name. There is an American artist Michael May and an English set painter also called Michael May. How do we find out who painted the walls in the Soutine Restaurant and produced paintings such as this?



Neither of the Michael Mays refer on their website to painting the walls at Soutine so perhaps there is another Michael May out there who will eventually be revealed as the Soutine wall painter.

But by examining the styles of the two artistsI have concluded it was the English Michael May (which makes sense) who painted the walls in the Soutine Restaurant. He is a set painter and considered to be one of the most experienced scenic artists currently working in Britain....Michael has been a professional painter and scenic artist since 1974 and was both head of Scenic Art at the BBC and Thames Television. In 1993 he set up his own business, Rostron & May, which has worked on hundreds of productions and is highly respected within the industry.(rostronandmay.co.uk)

If you would like to know more about Michael May as set painter ....Click Here.

Michael May's personal paintings vary greatly in style. His personal work has continued in parallel with his professional career and his paintings, a mixture of both abstract and figurative work, are in the collections of his friends and admirers. He has produced many portraits to commission and is a particularly fine copyist.(rostronandmay.co.uk)

To check out his paintings- both his set paintings and individual works ....Click Here.